
ass 



)()(] 



PRKSKNTl-I) HY 



THE 



HEADSMAN; 



THE ABBA YE DES VIGNERONS. 



A TALE. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF THE " BRAVO," &c. &c. 



How oft the eight of meana to do ill deeds. 
Makes deeds ill done !" 



'* IN TWO VOLUMES. 

VOL. I. 



A NEVF EDITION. 

CAREY, LEA, & BLANCHARD 
1836. 



.He 



('■ 



Entered according to the act of congress, in the year 1833, by 
Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, in the clerk's office of the district court 
for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. 






INTRODUCTION. 



Eably in October 1832, a travelling-carriage stopped /^ 
on the summit of that long descent where the road 
pitches from the elevated plain of Moudon in Switzerland 
to the level of the lake of Geneva, immediately above 
the little city of Vevey. The postilion had dismounted 
to chain a wheel, and the halt enabled those he conducted 
to catch a glimpse of the lovely scenery of that remarka- 
ble view. 

The travellers were an American family, which had 
long been wandering about Europe, and which was now 
destined it knew not whither, having just traversed a 
thousand miles of Germany in its devious course. Four 
years before, the same family had halted on the same 
spot, nearly on the same day of the month of October, 
and for precisely the same object. It was then journey- 
ing to Italy, and as its members hung over the view of 
the Leman, with its accessories of Chillon, Chatelard, 
Blonay, Meillerie, the peaks of Savoy, and the wild 
ranges of the Alps, they had felt regret that the fairy 
scene was so soon to pass away. The case was now 
different, and yielding to the charm of a nature so noble 
and yet so soft, within a few hours, the carriage was in 
remise, a house was taken, the baggage unpacked, and 
the household gods of the travellers were erected, for th 
twentieth time, in a strange land. 

Our American (for the family had its head) was fami- 
liar with the ocean, and the sight of water awoke old 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

and pleasant recollections. He was hardly established 
in Vevey as a housekeeper, before he sought a boat. 
Chance brought him to a certain Jean Descloux (we give 
the spelling at hazard,) with whom he soon struck up 
a bargain, and they launched forth in company upon the 
lake. 

This casual meeting was the commencement of an 
agreeable and friendly intercourse. Jean Descloux, 
besides being a very good boatman, was a respectable 
philosopher in his. way ; possessing a tolerable stock of 
general information. His knowledge of America, in 
particular, might be deemed a little remarkable. He 
knew it was a continent, which lay west of his own 
quarter of the world ; that it had a place in it called New 
Vevey ; that all the whites who had gone there were not 
yet black, and that there were plausible hopes it might 
one day be civilized. Finding Jean so enlightened on 
a subject under which most of the eastern savans break 
down, the American thought it well enough to prick him 
closely on other matters. The worthy boatman turned 
out to be a man of singularly just discrimination. He 
was a reasonably -good judge of the weather ; had divers 
marvels to relate concerning the doings of the lake; 
thought the city very wrong for not making a port in 
the great square ; always maintained that the wine of 
St. Saphorin was very savory drinking for those who 
could get no better ; laughed at the idea of their being 
sufficient cordage in the world to reach the bottom of the 
Genfer See ; was of opinion that the trout was a better 
fish than the fera ; spoke with singular moderation of 
his ancient masters, the bourgeoisie of Berne, which, 
however, he always affirmed kept singularly bad roads 
in Vaud, while those around its own city were the best 



IKtRODtJCTION. V 

in Europe, and otherwise showed himself to be a discreet 
and observant man. In short, honest Jean Descloux 
was a fair sample of that homebred, upright common-^ 
sense which seems to form the instinct of the mass, and 
which it is greatly the fashion to deride in those circles 
in which mystification passes for profound thinking, bold 
assumption for evidence, a simper for wit, particular 
personal advantages for liberty, and in which it is deem- 
ed a mortal offence against good manners to hint that 
Adam and Eve were the common parents of mankind. 

" Monsieur has chosen a good time to visit Vevey," 
observed Jean Descloux, one evening, that they were 
drifting in front of the town, the whole scenery resem- 
bling a fairy picture rather than a portion of this much- 
abused earth ; "it blows sometimes at this end of the 
lake in a way to frighten the gulls out of it. We shall 
see no more of the steam-boat after the last of the month." 

The American cast a glance at the mountain, drew 
upon his memory for sundry squalls and gales which he 
had seen himself, and thought the boatman's figure of 
speech less extravagant than it had at first seemed. 

" If your lake craft were better constructed, they would 
make better weather," he quietly observed. 

Monsieur Descloux had no wish to quarrel w^ith a 
customer who employed him every evening, and who 
preferred floating with the current to being rowed with 
a crooked oar. He manifested his prudence, therefore, 
by making a reserved reply. 

" No doubt, monsieur," he said, " that the people who 
live on the sea make better vessels, and know how to 
sail them more skilfully. We had a proof of that here 
at Vevey," (he pronounced the word like v-vais, agreea- 
bly to the sounds of the French vowels,) " last summer 

A 2 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

which you might like to hear. An Enghsh gentleman 
— they say he was a captain in the marine — had a ves- 
sel built at Nice, and dragged over the mountains to our 
lake. He took a run across to Meillerie one fine morn- 
ing, and no duck ever skimmed along lighter or swifter ! 
He was not a man to take advice from a Swiss boatman, 
for he had crossed the line, and seen water spouts and 
whales ! Well, he was on his way back in the dark, and 
it came on to blow here from off the mountains, and he 
stood on boldly towards our shore, heaving the lead as he 
drew near the land, as if he had been beating into Spit- 
head in a fog," — Jean chuckled at the idea of sounding in 
the Leman — " while he flew along Uke a bold mariner, as 
no doubt he was !" 

" Landing, I suppose," said the American, " among 
the lumber in the great square ?" 

" Monsieur is mistaken. He broke his boat's nose 
against that wall ; and the next day, a piece of her, big 
enough to make a thole-pin, was not to be found. He 
might as well have sounded the heavens !" 

"The lake has a bottom, notwithstanding?" 

" Your pardon, monsieur. The lake has no bottom. 
The sea may have a bottom, but we have no bottom 
here." 

There was little use in disputing the point. 

Monsieur Descloux then spoke of the revolutions he 
had seen. He remembered the time when Vaud was a 
province of Berne. His observations on this subject 
were rational, and were well seasoned with wholesonie 
common sense. His doctrine was simply this. " It 
one man rule, he will rule for his own benefit, and that 
of his parasites ; if a minority rule, we have many mas- 
ters instead of one," (honest Jean had got hold here of a 



INTRODUOfflON. Vll 

cant saying of the privileged, which he very ingeniously 
converted against themselves,) " all of whom must be 
fed and served; and if the majority rule, and ruled 
wrongfully, why the minimum of harm is done." He 
admitted, that the people might be deceived to their own 
injury, but then, he did not think it was quite as hkely 
to happen, as that they should be oppressed when they 
were governed without any agency of their own. On 
these points, the American and the Vaudois were abso- 
lutely of the same mind. 

From politics the transition to poetry was natural, for 
a common ingredient in both would seem to be fiction. 
On the subject of his mountains, Monsieur Descloux was 
a thorough Swiss. He expatiated on their grandeur, 
their storms, their height, and their glaciers, with elo- 
quence. The worthy boatman had some such opinions 
of the superiority of his own country, as all are apt to 
form who have never seen any other. He dwelt on the 
glories of an Abbaye des Vignerpns, too, with the gusto 
of a Vevaisan, and seemed to think it would be a high 
stroke of state policy, to get up a new fete of this^^ind as 
speedily as possible. In short, the world and its interests 
were pretty generally discussed between these two phi- 
losophers during an intercourse that extended to a month. 

Our American was not a man to let instruction of this 
nature easily escape him. He lay hours at a time on 
the seats of Jean Descloux's boat, looking up at the 
mountains, or watching some lazy sail on the lake, and 
speculating on the wisdom of which he was so accident- 
ally made the repository. His view on one side was 
limited by the glacier of Mcnt Velan, a near neighbor of 
the celebrated col of St. Bernard ; and on the other, his 
eye could range to the smiling fields that surround Gene- 



Vlii INTBI^DUCTION. 

va. Within this setting is contained one of the most 
magnificent pictures that Nature ever drew, and he be- 
thought him of the human actions, passions, and interests 
of which it might have been the scene. By a connexion 
that was natural enough to the situation, he imagined a 
fragment of Hfe passed between these grand limits, and 
the manner in which men could listen to the never- 
wearied promptings of their impulses in the immediate 
presence of the majesty of the Creator. He bethought 
him of the analogies that exist between inanimate nature 
and our own wayward inequalities ; of the fearful ad- 
mixture of good and evil of which we are composed ; of 
the manner in which the best betray their submission to 
the devils, and in which the worst have gleams of that 
eternal principle of right, by which they have been en- 
dowed by God ; of those tempests which sometimes lie 
dormant in our systems, like the slumbering lake in the 
calm, but which excited, equal its fury when lashed by 
the winds ; of the strength of prejudices ; of the worth- 
lessness and changeable character of the most cherished 
of our* opinions, and of that strange, incomprehensible, 
and yet winning melange of contradictions, of fallacies, 
of truths, and of wrongs, which make up the sum of our - 
existence. 

The following pages are the result of this dreaming. 
The reader is left to his own inteJligence for the moral. 

A respectable English writer observed : — " All pages 
of human life are worth reading ; the wise instruct ; the 
gay divert us ; the imprudent teach us what to shun ; 
the absurd cure the spleen." 



THE HEADSMAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

Day glimmered and I went, a gentle breeze 
Ruffling the Leman lake. 

Rogers. 

The year was in its fall, according to a poetical 
expression of our own, and the morning bright, as 
the fairest and swiftest bark that navigated the 
Leman lay at the quay of the ancient and histori- 
cal town of Geneva, ready to depart for the country 
of Vaud. This vessel was called the Winkelried, 
in commemoration of Arnold of that name, who 
had so generously sacrificed life and hopes to the 
good of his country, and who deservedly ranks 
among the truest of those heroes of whom we have 
well-authenticated legends. She had been launch- 
ed at the commencement of the summer, and still 
bore at the fore-top-mast-head a bunch of ever- 
greens, profusely ornamented with knots and 
streamers of riband, the offerings of the patron's 
female friends, and the fancied gage of success. 
The use of steam, and the presence of unemployed 
seamen of various nations, in this idle season of 
the warlike, are slowly leading to innovations and 
.improvements in the navigation of the lakes of 
Italy and Switzerland, it is true ; but time, even at 
this hour, has done little towards changing the ha- 
bits and opinions of those who ply on these inland 
waters for a subsistence. The Winkelreid had the 
two low, diverging masts ; the attenuated and pic- 



^^ 



10 THE HEADSMAN. 

turesquely-poised latine yards ; the light, triangular 
sails ; the sweeping and projecting gangways ; the 
receding and falling stern ; the high and peaked 
prow, with, in general, the classical and quaint air 
of those vessels that are seen in the older paintings 
and engravings. A gilded ball glittered on the 
summit of each mast, for no canvass was set higher 
than the slender and well-balanced yards, and it 
was above one of these that the wilted bush, with 
its gay appendages, trembled and fluttered in a 
fresh western wind. The hull was worthy of so 
much goodly apparel, being spacious, commodious, 
and, according to the wants of the navigation, of 
approved mould. The freight, which was sufli- 
ciently obvious, much the greatest part being piled 
on the ample deck, consisted of what our own 
watermen would term an assorted cargo. It was, 
however, chiefly composed of those foreign luxu- 
ries, as they were then called, though use has now 
rendered them nearly indispensable to domestic 
economy, which were consumed, in singular mod- 
eration, by the more affluent of those who dwelt 
deeper among the mountains, and of the two prin- 
cipal products of the dairy ; the latter being des- 
tined to a market in the less verdant countries of 
the south. To these must be added the personal 
effects of an unusual number of passengers, which 
were stowed on the top of the heavier part of the 
cargo, with an order and care that their value 
would scarcely seem to require. The arrange- 
ment, however, was necessary to the convenience 
and even to the security of the bark, having been 
made by the patron with a view to posting each 
individual by his particular wallet, in a manner to 
prevent confusion in the crowd, and to leave the 
crew space and opportunity to discharge the ne- 
cessary duties of the navigation. 
With a vessel stowed, sails ready to drop, the 



THE HEADSMAN. 11 

wind fair, and the day drawing on apace, the 
patron of the Winkelried, who was also her owner, 
felt a very natural wish to depart. But an unlook- 
ed-for obstacle had just presented itself at the 
water-gate, where the officer charged with the 
duty of looking into the characters of all who went 
and came was posted, and around whom some fifty 
representatives of half as many nations were now 
clustered in a clamorous throng, filling the air with 
a confusion of tongues that had some probable af- 
finity to the noises which deranged the workmen 
of Babel. It appeared, by parts of sentences and bro- 
ken remonstrances, equally addressed to the patron, 
whose name was Baptiste, and to the guardian of 
the Genevese laws, a rumor was rife among these 
truculent travellers, that Balthazar, the headsman, 
or executioner, of the powerful and aristocratical 
canton of Berne, was about to be smuggled into 
their company by the cupidity of the former, con- 
trary, not only to what was due to the feelings and 
rights of men of more creditable callings, but, as it 
was vehemently and plausibly insisted, to the very 
safety of those who were about to trust their for- 
tunes to the vicissitudes of the elements. 

Chance agd the ingenuity of Baptiste had col- 
lected, on this occasion, as party-colored and 
heterogeneous an assemblage of human passions, 
interests, dialects, wishes, and opinions, as any ad- 
mirer of diversity of character could desire. There 
were several small traders, some returning from 
adventures in Germany and France, and. some 
bound southward, with their scanty stock of wares ; 
a few poor scholars, bent on a literary pilgrimage 
to Rome ; an artist or two, better provided with 
enthusiasm than with either knowledge or taste, 
journeying with poetical longings towards skies 
and tints of Italy ; a trouj)e of street jugglers, who 
had been turning their Neapolitan buffoonery to 



12 THE HEADSMAN. 

account among the duller and less sophisticated 
inhabitants of Swabia ; divers lacqueys out of 
place ; some six or eight capitalists who lived on 
their wits, and a nameless herd of that set which 
the French call bad " subjects ;" a title that is just 
now, oddly enough, disputed between the dregs o 
society and a class that would fain become its ex 
elusive leaders and lords. 

These with some slight qualifications that it is 
not yet necessary to particularise, composed that 
essential requisite of all fair representation — the 
majority. Those who remained were of a different 
caste. Near the noisy crowd of tossing heads and 
brandished arms, in and around the gate, was a 
party containing the venerable and still fine figure 
of a man in the travelling dress of one of superior 
condition, and who did not need the testimony of 
the two or three liveried menials that stood near 
his person, to give an assurance of his belonging to 
the more fortunate of his fellow-creatures, as good 
and evil are usually estimated in calculating the 
chances of life. On his arm leaned a female, so 
young, and yet so lovely, as to cause regret in all 
who observed her fading color, the sweet but 
melancholy smile that occasionally ligljted her mild 
and pleasing features, at some of the more marked 
exuberances of folly among the crowd, and a form 
which, notwithstanding her lessened bloom, was 
nearly perfect. If these symptoms of delicate 
health, did not prevent this fair girl from being 
amused at the volubility and arguments of the dif- 
ferent orators, she oftener manifested apprehension 
at finding herself the companion of creatures so 
untrained, so violent, so exacting, and so grossly 
ignorant. A young man, wearing the roquelaure 
and other similar appendages of a Swiss in foreign 
military service, a character to excite neither ob- 
servation nor comment in that age, stood at her 



THE HEADSMAN. 13 

elbow, answering the questions that from time to 
time were addressed to him by the others, in a 
manner to show he was an intimate acquaintance, 
though there were signs about his travelHng equi- 
page to prove he was not exactly of their ordinary 
society. Of all who were not immediately en- 
gaged in the boisterous discussion at the gate, this 
young soldier, who was commonly addressed by 
those near him as Monsieur Sigismund, was much 
the most interested in its progress. Though of 
herculean frame, and evidently of unusual physical 
force, he was singularly agitated. His cheek, 
which had not yet lost the freshness due to the 
mountain air, would, at times, become pale as 
that of the wilting flower near him ; while at oth- 
ers, the blood rushed across his brow in a torrent 
that seemed to threaten a rupture of the starting- 
vessels in which it so tumultuously flowed. Unless 
addressed, however, he said nothing; his distress 
gradually subsiding, until it was merely betrayed 
by the convulsive writhings of his fingers, which 
unconsciously grasped the hilt of his sword. 

The uproar had now continued for some time ; 
throats were getting sore, tongues clammy, voices 
hoarse, and words incoherent, when a sudden check 
was given to the usel^^ clamor by an incident 
quite in unison with the disturbance itself. Two 
enormous dogs were in attendance hard by, appa- 
rently awaiting the movements of their respective 
masters, who were lost to view in the mass of 
heads and bodies that stopped the passage of the 
gate. One of these animals was covered with a 
short, thick coating of hair, whose prevailing co- 
lor was a dingy yellow, but whose throat and 
legs, with most of the inferior parts of the body, 
were of a dull white. Nature, on the other hand, 
had given a dusky, brownish, shaggy dress to his 
rival, though his general hue was relieved by a few 

Vol. I. B 



14 THE HEADSMAN. 

shades of a more decided black. As respects 
weight and force of body, the difference between 
the brutes was not very obvious, though perhaps it 
sHghtly inchned in favor of the former, who in 
length, if not in strength, of limb, however, had 
more manifestly the advantage. 

It would much exceed the intelligence we have 
brought to this task to explain how far the instincts 
of the dogs sympathised in the savage passions of 
the human beings around them, or whether they 
were conscious that their masters had espoused 
opposite sides in the quarrel, and that it became 
them, as faithful esquires, to tilt together by way of 
supporting the honor of those they followed ; but, 
after measuring each other for the usual period 
with the eye, they came violently together, body to 
body, in the manner of their species. The collision 
was fearful, and the struggle, being between two 
creatures of so great size and strength, of the 
fiercest kind. The roar resembled that of lions, 
effectually drowning the clamor of human voices. 
Every tongue was mute, and each head was turn- 
ed in the direction of the combatants. The trem- 
bling girl recoiled with averted face, while the 
young man stepped eagerly forward to protect 
her, for the conflict was near the place they occu- 
pied ; but powerful and active as was his frame, 
he hesitated about mingling in an affray so fero- 
cious. iVt this critical moment, when it seemed 
that the furious brutes were on the point of tearing 
each other in pieces, the crowd was pushed vio- 
lently open, and two men burst, side by side, out of 
the mass. One wore the black robes, the conical, 
Asiatic-looking, tufted cap, and the white belt of an 
Augustine monk, and the other had the attire of a 
man addicted to the seas, without, however, being 
so decidedly maritime as to leave his character a 
matter that was quite beyond dispute. The former 



THE HEADSMAN. 15 

was fair, ruddy, with an oval, happy face, of which 
internal peace and good-will to hjs fellows were the 
principal characteristics, while the latter had the 
swarthy hue, bold lineaments, and glittering eye, 
of an Italian. 

" Uberto !" said the monk reproachfully, affect- 
ing the sort of offended manner that one would be 
apt to show to a more intelligent creature, willing, 
but at the same time afraid, to trust his person 
nearer to the furious conflict, " shame on thee, old 
Uberto ! Hast forgotten thy schooling- — hast no 
respect for thine own good name V' 

On the other hand, the Italian did not stop to 
expostulate; but throwing himself with reckless 
hardihood on the dogs, by dint of kicks and blows, 
of which much tlie heaviest portion fell on the fol- 
lower of the Augustine, he succeeded in separating 
the combatants. 

" Ha, Nettuno !" he exclaimed, with the severity 
of one accustomed to exercise a stern and absolute 
authority, so soon as this daring exploit was 
achieved, and he had recovered a little of the 
breath lost in the violent exertion — " what dost 
mean ? Canst find no better amusement than quar- 
relling with a dog of San Bernardo ! Fie upon thee, 
foohsh Nettuno ! I am ashamed of thee, dog : thou, 
that hast discreetly navigated so many seas, to 
lose thy temper on a bit of fresh water !" 

The dog, which was in truth no other than a 
noble animal of the well-known Newfoundland 
breed, hung his head, and made signs of contrition, 
by drawing nearer to his master with a tail that 
swept the ground, while his late adversary quietly 
seated himself with a species of monastic dignity, 
looking from the speaker to his foe, as if endeavor- 
ing to comprehend the rebuke which his powerful 
and gallant antagonist took so meekly. 

" Father," said the Italian, " our dogs are both 



16 THE HEADSMAN. 

too useful, in their several ways, and both of too 
good character to be enemies. I know Uberto 
of old, for the paths of St. Bernard and I are no 
strangers, and, if report does the animal no more 
than justice, he hath not been an idle cur among 
the snows." 

" He hath been the instrument of saving seven 
Christians from death," answered the monk, begin- 
ning again to regard his mastiff with friendly looks, 
for at first there had been keen reproach and se- 
vere displeasure in his manner — "not to speak 
of the bodies that have been found by his activity, 
after the vital spark had fled." 

" As for the latter, father, we can count little 
more in favor of the dog than a good intention. 
Valuing services on this scale, I might ere this 
have been the holy father himself, or at least a car- 
dinal ; but seven lives saved, for their owners to 
die quietly in their beds, and with opportunity to 
make their peace with heaven, is no bad recom- 
mendation for a dog. Nettuno, here, is every way 
worthy to be the friend of old Uberto, for thirteen 
drowning men have I myself seen him draw from 
the greedy jaws of sharks and other monsters of 
deep water. What dost thou say, father; shall 
we make peace between the brutes V 

The Augustine expressed his readiness, as well 
as his desire, to aid in an effort so laudable, and by 
dint of commands and persuasion, the dogs, who 
were predisposed to peace from having had a mu- 
tual taste of the bitterness of war, and who now 
felt for each other the respect which courage and 
force are apt to create, were soon on the usual 
terms of animals of their kind that have no parti- 
cular grounds for contention. 

The guardian of the city improved the calm pro 
duced by this little incident, to regain a portion of 
his lost authority. Beating back the crowd with 



THE HEADSMAN. 17 

his cane, he cleared a space around the gate into 
which but one of the travellers could enter at a 
time, while he professed himself not only ready but 
determined to proceed with his duty, without fur- 
ther procrastination. Baptiste, the patron, who 
beheld the precious moments wasting, and who, in 
the delay, foresaw a loss of wind, w^hich, to one of 
his pursuits, was loss of money, now earnestly 
pressed the travellers to comply with the necessary 
forms, and to take their stations in his bark with 
all convenient speed. 

" Of what matter is it," continued the calculat- 
ing waterman, v.ho was rather conspicuously 
known for the love of thrift that is usually at- 
tributed to most of the inhabitants of that region, 
" whether there be one headsman or twenty in the 
bark, so long as the good vessel can float and 
steer] Our Leman winds are fickle friends, and 
the wise take them while in the humor. Give me 
the breeze at west, and I will load the Winkelried 
to the water's edge with executioners, or any other 
pernicious creatures thou wilt, and thou mayest 
take the lightest bark that ever swam in the bise, 
and let us see who will first make the haven of 
Vevey !" 

The loudest, and in a sense that is very impor- 
tant in all such discussions, the principal, speaker 
in the dispute, was the leader of the Neapolitan 
troupe, who, in virtue of good lungs, an agility that 
had no competitor in any present, and a certain 
mixture of superstition and bravado, that formed 
nearly equal ingredients in his character, was a 
man likely to gain great influence with those who, 
from their ignorance and habits, had an inherent 
love of the marvellous, and a profound respect for 
all who possessed, in acting, more audacity, and, 
in believing, more credulity than themselves. The 
vulgar like an excess, even if it be of follv; for, in 
B2 



18 THE HEADSMAN". 

their eyes, the abundance of any particular quahty 
is very apt to be taken as the standard of its ex- 
cellence. 

" This is well for him who receives, but it may 
be death to him that pays," cried the son of the 
south, gaining not a little among his auditors by 
the distinction, for the argument was sufficiently 
wily, as between the buyer and the seller. " Thou 
wilt get thy silver for the risk, and we may get 
watery graves for our weakness. Nought but 
mishaps can come of wicked company, and ac- 
cursed will they be, in the evil hour, that are found 
in brotherly communion with one whose trade is 
hurrying Christians into eternity, before the time 
that has been lent by nature is fairly up. Santa 
Madre ! I would not be the fellow-traveller of such 
a wretch, across this wild and changeable lake, for 
the honor of leaping and showing my poor powers 
in the presence of the Holy Father, and the whole 
of the learned conclave !" 

This solemn declaration, which was made with 
suitable gesticulation, and an action of the counte- 
nance that was well adapted to prove the speaker's 
sincerity, produced a corresponding eflect on most 
of the listeners, who murmured their applause in a 
manner sutBciently significant to convince the 
patron he was not about to dispose of the difficulty, 
simply by virtue of fair words. In this dilemma, 
he bethought him of a plan of overcoming the 
scruples of all present, in which he was warmly 
seconded by the agent of the police, and to which, 
after the usual number of cavilling objections that 
were generated by distrust, heated blood, and the 
obstinacy of disputation, the other parties were 
finally induced to give their consent. It was 
agreed that the examination should no longer be 
delayed, but that a species of deputation from the 
crowd might take their stand within the gate, 



THE HEADSMAN. l^ 

where all who passed would necessarily be subject 
to their scrutiny, and, in the event of their vigi- 
lance detecting the abhorred and proscribed Bal- 
thazar, that the patron should return his money to 
the headsman, and preclude him from forming one 
of a party that w^as so scrupulous of its associa- 
tion, and, apparently, w^ith so little reason. The 
Neapolitan, whose name was Pippo ; one of the 
indigent scholars, for a century since learning was 
rather the auxiliary than the foe of superstition ; 
and a certain Nicklaus Wagner, a fat Bernese, 
who was the owner of most of the cheeses in the 
bark, were the chosen of the multitude on tliis oc- 
casion. The first owed his election to his vehe- 
mence and volubility, qualities that the ignoble 
vulgar are very apt to mistake for conviction and 
knowledge; the second to his silence and a de- 
mureness of air which pass W'ith another class for 
the stillness of deep water ; and the last to his sub- 
stance, as a man of known wealth, an advantage 
which, in spite of all that alarmists predict on one 
side and enthusiasts affirm on the other, will al- 
ways carry greater w^eight with those who are 
less fortunate in this respect, than is either reason- 
able or morally healthful, pro.vided it is not abused 
by arrogance or by the assumption of very extrav- 
agant and oppressive privileges. As a matter of 
course, these deputed guardians of the common 
rights were first obliged to submit their own pa- 
jxjrs to the eye of the Genevese.* 

* As we have so often alluded to this examination, it may 
bo well to explain, tliat the present system of gend'armerie and 
passports did not then prevail in Europe ; taking their rise 
nearly a century later than that in which the events of this 
tale had place. But Geneva was a small and exposed state, 
and the regulation to which there is reference here, was one 
of the provisions which were resorted to, from time to time, 
in order to protect those liberties and that independence, of 
which its citizens were so unceasingly and so wisely jealous. 



20 THE HEADSMAN. 

The Neapolitan, than whom an archer knave, 
or one that had committed more petty wrongs, did 
not present himself that day at the water-gate, was 
regularly fortified by every precaution that the 
long experience of a vagabond could suggest, and 
he was permitted to pass forthwith. The poor 
Westphahan student presented an instrument fairly 
written out in scholastic Latin, and escaped further 
trouble by the vanity of the unlettered agent of the 
police, who hastily affirmed it was a pleasure to 
encounter documents so perfectly in form. But 
the Bernese w^as about to take his station by the 
side of the other two, appearing to think inquiry, 
in his case, unnecessary. While moving through 
the passage in stately silence, Nicklaus Wagner 
was occupied in securing the strings of a w-ell- 
filled purse, wiiich he had just lightened of a small 
copper coin, to reward the varlet of the hostelry 
in which he had passed the night, and who had 
been obliged to follow him to the port to obtain 
even this scanty boon ; and the Genevese was fain 
to believe that, in the urgency of this important 
concern, he had overlooked those forms which all 
were, just then, obliged to respect, on quitting the 
town. 

" Thou hast a name and character ?" observed 
the latter, with official brevity. 

" God help thee, friend ! — I did not think Gene- 
va had been so particular with a Swiss ; — and a 
Swiss w^ho is so favorably known on the Aar, and 
indeed over the whole of the great canton ! I am 
Nicklaus Wagner, a name of little account, per- 
haps, but which is well esteemed among men of 
substance, and which has a right even to the Biir- 
gerschaft — Nicklaus Wagner of Berne — thou wilt 
scarce need more?" 

" Naught but proof of its truth. Thou wilt re- 
member this is Geneva; the laws of a small and 



THE HEADSMAN. 21 

exposed state need be particular in atiairs of this 
nature." 

" I never questioned thy state being Geneva ; I 
only wonder thou shouldst doubt my being Nick- 
laus Wagner ! I can journey the darkest night that 
ever threw a shadow from the mountains, any- 
vv'here between the Jura and the Oberland, and 
none shall say my word is to be disputed. Look 
'ee, there is the patron, Baptiste, who will tell thee, 
that if he were to land the freight which is shipped 
in my name, his bark would float greatly the 
lighter." 

All this time Nicklaus was nothing loth to show 
his papers, w^hich were quite in rule. He eveif 
held them, with a thumb and finger separating the 
folds, ready to be presented to his questioner. The 
hesitation came from a feeling of wounded vanity, 
which would gladly show that one of his local im- 
portance and known substance was to be exempt 
from the exactions required from men of smaller 
means. The officer, who had great practice in 
this species of collision with his fellow-creatures, 
understood the character with which he had to 
deal, and, seeing no good reason for refusing to 
gratify a feeling which was innocent, though suf- 
ficiently silly, he yielded to the Bernese pride. 

** Thou canst proceed," he said, turning the in- 
dulgence to account, with a ready knowledge of 
his duty ; " and when thou gettest again among 
thy burghers, do us of Geneva the grace to say, 
we treat our allies fairly." 

" I thought thy question hasty !" exclaimxcd the 
wealthy peasant, swelling like one w^ho gets jus- 
tice, though tardily. " Now let us to this knotty 
affair of the headsman." 

Taking his place with the Neapolitan and the 
Westphalian, Nicklaus assumed the grave air of 
a judge, and an austerity of manner which proved 



22 THE HEADSMAN. 

that he entered on his duty with a firm resolution 
to do justice. 

" Thou art well known here, pilgrim," observed 
the officer, with some severity of tone, to the next 
that came to the gate. 

^' St. Francis to speed, master, it were else 
wonderful ! I should be so, for the seasons scarce 
come and go more regularly." 

" There must be a sore conscience somewhere, 
that Rome and thou should need each other so 
often?" 

The pilgrim, who was enveloped in a tattered 
coat, sprinkled with cockle-shells, who wore his 
beard, and was altogether a disgusting picture 
of human depravity, rendered still more revolting 
by an ill-concealed hypocrisy, laughed openly 
and recklessly at the remark. 

" Thou art a follower of Calvin, master," he 
repHed, " or thou would'st not have said this. My 
own failings give me little trouble. I am engaged 
by certain parishes of Germany to take upon my 
poor person their physical pains, and it is not easy 
to name another that hath done as many messages 
of this kind as myself, with better proofs of fideli- 
ty. If thou hast any little offering to make, thou 
shalt see fair papers to prove what I say ; — papers 
that would pass at St. Peter's itself!" 

The officer perceived that he had to do with one 
of those unequivocal hypocrites — if such a word can 
properly be applied to him who scarcely thought 
deception necessary — who then made a traffic of 
expiations of this nature; a pursuit that was com- 
mon enough at the close of the seventeenth and in 
the commencement of the eighteenth centuries, and 
which has not even yet entirely disappeared from 
Europe. He threw the pass with unconcealed 
aversion towards the profligate, who, recovering 
his document, assumed unasked his station by the 



THE HEADSMAN. 23 

side of the three who had been selected to decide 
on the fitness of those who were to be allowed to 
embark. 

'* Go to !" cried the officer, as he permitted this 
ebulUtion of disgust to escape him ; " thou hast 
well said that we are followers of Calvin. Geneva 
has little in common with her of the scarlet man- 
tle, and thou wilt do w^ell to remember this, in thy 
next pilgrimage, lest the beadle make acquaintance 
with thy back. — Hold ! who art thou ?" 

" A heretic, hopelessly damned by anticipation, 
if that of yonder travelling prayer-monger be 
the true faith ;" answered one w^ho was pressing 
past, with a quiet assurance that had near carried 
its point without incurring the risks of the usual 
investigation into his name and character: It was 
the owner of Nettuno, whose aquatic air and per- 
fect self-possession now caused the officer to doubt 
whether he had not stopped a waterman of the 
lake — a class privileged to come and go at will. 

" Thou knowest our usages," said the half-satis- 
fied Geneyese. 

" I were a fool else ! Even the ass that often 
travels the same path comes in time to tell its 
turns and windings. Art not satisfied with touch- 
ing the pride of the w^orthy Nicklaus Wagner, by . 
putting the w^ell- warmed burgher to his proofs, but 
thou would'st e'en question me ! Come hither, 
Nettuno ; thou shalt answ^er for both, being a dog 
of discretion. We are no go-betweens of heaven 
and earth, thou know^est, but creatures that com.e 
part of the water and part of the land !" 

The Italian spoke loud and confidently, and in 
the manner of one who addressed himself more to 
the humors of those near than to the understand- 
ing of the Genevese. He laughed, and looked 
about him in a manner to extract an echo from 
the crowd, though not one among them all could 



24 THE HEADSMAN. 

probably have given a sufficient reason why he 
had so readily taken part with the stranger against 
the authorities of the town, unless it might have 
been from the instinct of opposition to the law. 

" Thou hast a name?" continued the half-yield- 
ing, half-doubting guardian of the port. 

" Dost take me to be worse oft^ than the bark of 
Baptiste, there ? I have papers, too, if thou wilt that 
I go to the vessel in order to seek them. This dog- 
is Nettuno, a brute from a far country, where 
brutes swim like fishes, and my name is Maso, 
though wicked-minded men call me oftener II 
Maledetto than by any other title." 

All in the throng, who understood the significa- 
tion of what the Italian said, laughed aloud, and 
apparently with great glee, for, to the grossly 
vulgar, extreme audacity has an irresistible charm. 
The officer felt that the merriment, was against 
him, though he scarce knew why ; and ignorant 
of the language in which the other had given his 
extraordinary appellation, he yielded to the conta- 
gion, and laughed with the others, like one who 
understood the joke to the bottom. The Itahan 
profited by this advantage, nodded familiarly w^ith 
a good-natured and knowing smile, and proceeded. 
Whistling the dog to his side, he walked leisurely 
to the bark, into which he was the first that en- 
tered, always presei'ving the deliberation and calm 
of a man who felt himself privileged, and safe from 
farther molestation. This cool audacity effected 
its purpose, though one long and closely hunted 
by the law evaded the authorities of the town, 
when this singular being took his seat by the little 
package which contained his scanty wardrobe. 



THE HEADSMAN. 25 



CHAPTER II. 

My nobiel liege ! all my request 
Ys for a nobile knyghte, 
Who, tho' mayhap he has done wronge, 
Hee thoughte ytt stylle was righte." 

Chatterton. 

While this impudent evasion of vigilance was 
successfully practised . by so old an offender, the 
trio of sentinels, with their volunteer assistant the 
pilgrim, manifested the greatest anxiety to prevent 
the contamination of admitting the highest execu- 
tioner of the law to form one of the strangely as- 
sorted company. No sooner did the Genevese 
permit a traveller to pass, than they commenced 
their private and particular examination, which 
was sufficiently fierce, for more than once had they 
threatened to turn back the trembling, ignorant 
appHcant on mere suspicion. The cunning Bap- 
tiste lent himself to their feelings with the skill of 
a demagogue, affecting a zeal equal to their own, 
while, at the same time, he took care most to ex- 
cite their suspicions w^here there was the smallest 
danger of their being rewarded with success. 
Through this fiery ordeal one passed after another, 
until most of the nameless vagabonds had been 
found innocent, and the throng around the gate 
was so far lessened as to allow a freer circulation 
in the thoroughfare. The opening permitted the 
venerable noble, who has already been presented 
to the reader, to advance to the gate, accompanied 
by the female, and closely followed by the menials. 
The servitor of the police saluted the stranger 
with deference, for his calm exterior and imposing 
presence were in singular contrast with the noisy 

Vol. I. C 



26 THE HEADSMAN. 

declamation and rude deportment of the rabble 
that had preceded. 

" I am Melchior de Willading, of Berne," said 
the traveller, quietly ofiering the proofs of what 
he said, with the ease of one sure of his impu- 
nity ; " this is my child — my only child," the old 
man repeated the latter words with melancholy 
emphasis, " and these, that wear my livery, are 
old and faithful followers of my house. We go 
by the St. Bernard, to change the ruder side of 
our Alps for that which is > more grateful to the 
weak — to see if there be a sun in Italy that hath 
warmth enough to revive this drooping flower, 
and to cause it once more to raise its head joy- 
ously, as until lately, it did ever in its native halls." 

The officer smiled and repeated' his reverences, 
always declining to receive the offered papers ; 
for the aged father indulged the overflowing of 
his feelings in a manner that would have awakened 
even duller sympathies. 

*< The lady has youth and a tender parent of her 
side," he said ; " these are much when health fails 
us." 

" She is indeed too young to sink so early !" 
returned the father, who had apparently forgotten 
his immediate business, and was gazing with a 
tearful eye at the faded but still eminently attrac- 
tive features of the young female, who rewarded 
his solicitude with a look of love ; " but thou hast 
not seen I am the man I represent myself to be." 

^* It is not necessary, noble baron; the city knows 
of your presence, and I have it, in especial charge, 
to do all that may be grateful to render the pas- 
sage through Geneva, of one so honored among 
our allies, agreeable to his recollections." 

" Thy city's courtesy is of known repute," said 
the Baron de Willading, replacing his papers in 
their usual envelope, and receiving the grace like 



THE HEADSMAX. 27 

one accustomed to honors of this sort : — '•' art thou 
a father f' 

" Heaven has not been niggardly of gifts of this 
nature : my table feeds eleven, besides those who 
gave them being." 

*' Eleven ! — The will of God is a fearful mys- 
tery ! And this thou seest is the sole hope of my 
line ; — the only heir that is left to t+ie nam.e and 
lands of Willading ! Art thou at ease in thy con- 
dition?" 

'' There are those in our town who are less so, 
wdth many thanks for the friendliness of the ques- 
tion." 

A slight color suffused the face of Adelheid de 
Willading, for so was the daughter of the Bernese 
called, and she advanced a step nearer to the 
officer. ' 

" They who have so few at their own board, 
need think of those W'ho have so many," she said, 
dropping a piece of gold into the hand of the Gen- 
evese : then she added, in a voice scarce louder 
than a whisper — *' If the young and innocent of 
thy household can offer a prayer in the behalf of 
a poor girl who has much need of aid, 'twill be 
remembered of God, and it may serve to lighten 
the grief of one who has the dread of being child- 
less." 

" God bless thee, lady !" said the officer, little 
used to deal with such spirits, and touched by the 
mild resignation and piety of the speaker, whose 
simple but winning manner moved him nearly to 
tears ; " all of my family, old as well as young, 
shall bethink them of thee and thine." 

Adelheid's cheek resumed its paleness, and she 
quietly accompanied her father, as he slowly pro- 
ceeded towards the bark. A scene of this nature 
did not fail to shake the pertinacity of those who 
stood at watch near the gate. Of course they had 



28 THE HEADSMAN. 

nothing to say to any of the rank of Melchior de 
Willading, who went into the bark without a ques- 
tion. The influence of beauty and station united 
to so much simple grace as that shown by the fair 
actor in the Uttle incident we have just related, 
was much too strong for the ill-trained feelings of 
the Neapolitan and his companions. They not only 
let all the menials pass unquestioned also, but it 
was some little time before their vigilance resumed 
its former truculence. The two or three travel- 
lers that succeeded had the benefit of this fortu- 
nate change of disposition. 

The next who "came to the gate was the young 
soldier, whom the Baron de Willading had so of- 
ten addressed as Monsieur Sigismund. His papers 
were regular, and no obstacle was offered to his 
departure. It may be doubted how far this young 
man would have been disposed to submit to these 
extra-official inquiries of the three deputies of the 
crowd, had there been a desire to urge them, for 
he went towards the quay, with an eye that ex- 
pressed any other sensation than that of amity or 
compliance. Respect, or a more equivocal feel- 
ing, proved his protection ; for none but the pil- 
grim, who displayed ultra-zeal in the pursuit of 
his object, ventured so far as to hazard even a 
smothered remark as he passed. 

'' There goes an arm and a sword that might 
well shorten a Christian's days," said the dissolute 
and shameless dealer in the church's abuses, " and 
yet no one asks his name or calling !" 

" Thou hadst better put the question thyself," 
returned the sneering Pippo, *' since penitence is 
thy trade. For myself, I am content with whirl- 
ing round at my own bidding, without taking a 
hint from that young giant's arm." 

The poor scholar and the burgher of Berne ap- 
peared to acquiesce in this opinion, and no more 



THE HEADSMAN. 29 

was said in the matter. In the mean while there 
was another at the gate. The new apphcai^t had 
httle in his exterior to renew the vigilance of the 
superstitious trio. A quiet, meek-looking man, 
seemingly of a middle condition in life, and of an 
air altogether calm and unpretending, had sub- 
mitted his passport to the faithful guardian of the 
city. The latter read the document, cast a quick 
and inquiring glance at its ow^ner, and returned 
the paper in a w^ay to show haste, and a desire to 
be rid of him. 

" It is w^ell," he said; " thou canst go thy way.'* 

" How now !" cried the Neapolitan, to w^hom 
buffoonery w^as a congenial em.ployment, as much 
by natural disposition as by practice ; '' How now^ ! 
— have we Balthazar at last, in this bloody-minded 
and fierce-looking traveller?" As the speaker had 
expected, this sally was rewarded by a general 
laugh, and he w^as accordingly encouraged to pro- 
ceed. "' Thou knowest our office, friend," added 
tiie unfeeling mountebank, " and must show us thy 
hands. None pass who bear the stain of blood !" 

The traveller appeared staggered, for he w^as 
plainly a man of retired and peaceable habits, who 
had been thrown, by the chances of the road, in 
contact with one only too practised m this un- 
feeling species of wdt. He showed his open palm, 
however, with a direct and confiding simplicity, 
that drew a shout of merriment from all the by- 
standers, 

" This W' ill not do; soap, and ashes, and the tears 
of victims, may have w^ashed out the marks of 
his w^ork from Balthazar himself. The spots we 
seek are on the soul, man, and w^e must look into 
that, ere thou art permitted to make one in this 
goodly company." 

" Thou didst not question yonder young soldier 
thus," returned the stranger, whose eye kindled, 
C2 



30 THE HEADSMAX. 

as even the meek repel unprovoked outrage, though 
his frame trembled violently at being subject to 
open insults from men so rude and unprincipled ; 
" thou didst not dare to question yonder young sol- 
dier thus !'^ 

" By the prayers of San Gennaro ! which are 
knov^n to stop running and melted lava, I would 
rather thou should'st undertake that office than I. 
Yonder young soldier is an honorable decapitator, 
and it is a pleasure to be his companion on a jour- 
ney ; for, DO doubt, some six or eight of the saints 
are speaking in his behalf daily. But he we seek 
is the outcast of all, good or bad, whether in hea- 
ven or on earth, or in that other hot abode to which 
he will surely be sent when his time shall come." 

'' And vet he does no more than execute the 
law !" 

'' What is law to opinion, friend 1 But go thy 
way ; none suspect thee to be the redoubtable ene- 
my of our heads. Go thy way, for Heaven's sake, 
and mutter thy prayers to be delivered from Bal- 
thazar's axe." 

The countenance of the stranger worked, as if 
he would have answered ; then suddenly changing 
his purpose, he passed on, and instantly disappeared 
in the bark. The monk of St. Bernard came next. 
Both the Augustine and his dog were old acquain- 
tances of the officer, who did not require any evi- 
dence of his character or errand from the former. 

" We are the protectors of hfe and not its foes," 
observed the monk, as, leaving the more regular 
watchman of the place, he drew near to those 
whose claims to the office would have admitted oi 
dispute : "we live among the snows, that Christians 
may not die without the church's comfort." 

"Honor, holy Augustine, to thee and thy office !" 
said the Neapolitan, who, reckless and abandoned 
as he was, possessed that instinct of respect for 



THE HEADSMAN. 31 

those who deny their natures for the good of others, 
which is common to all, however tainted by cu- 
pidity themselves. " Thou and thy dog, old Uberto, 
can freely pass, with our best good wishes for 
both." 

There no longer remained any to examine, and, 
after a short consultation among the more super- 
stitious of the travellers, they came to the very 
natural opinion that, intimidated by their just remon- 
strances, the offensive headsman had shrunk, un- 
perceived, from the crowd, and that they were at 
length happily relieved from his presence. The 
annunciation of the welcome tidings drew much 
self-fehcitation from the different members of the 
motley company, and all eagerly embarked, for 
Baptiste now loudly and vehemently declared that 
a single moment of further delay was entirely out 
of the question. 

" Of what are you thinking, men !" he exclaim- 
ed with well-acted heat ; "are the Leman winds 
liveried lackeys, to come and go as may suit your 
fancies ; now to blow west, and now east, as shall 
be most wanted, to help you on your journeys? 
Take example of the noble Melchior de Willading, 
who has long been in his place, and pray the saints, 
if you will, in your several fashions, that this fair 
w^estern wind do not quit us in punishment of our 
neglect." 

" Yonder come others, in haste, to be of the 
party ! " interrupted the cunning Italian ; "loosen 
thy fasts quickly, Master Baptiste, or, by San Gen- 
naro ! we shall still be detained ! " 

The Patron suddenly checked himself, and hur- 
ried back to the gate, in order to ascertain what 
he might expect from this unlooked-for turn of for- 
tune. 

Two travellers, in the attire of men familiar 
with the road, accompanied by a menial, and fol- 



32 THE HEADSMAN*. 

lowed by a porter staggering under the burthen of 
their luggage, were fast approaching the water- 
gate, as if conscious the least delay might cause 
their being left. This party was led by one con- 
siderably past the meridian of hfe, and who evi- 
dently w^as enabled to maintain his post more by- 
the deference of his companions than by his physi- 
cal force. A cloak was thrown across one arm, 
while in the hand of the other he carried the rapier, 
which all of gentle blood then considered a neces- 
sary appendage of their rank. 

" You were near losing the last bark that sails 
for the Abbaye des Vignerons, Signori, " said the 
Genevese, recognizing the country of the strangers 
at a glance, " if, as I judge from your direction 
and haste, these festivities are in your minds." 

" Such is our aim," returned the elder of the 
travellers, " and, as thou sayest, we are, of a cer- 
tainty, tardy. A hasty departure and bad roads 
have been the cause — but as, happily, we are yet 
in time to profit by this bark, wilt do us the favor 
to look into our authority to pass?" 

The officer perused the offered document with 
the custom.ary care, turning it from side to side, 
as if all were not right, though in a way to show 
that he regretted the informality. 

" Signore, your pass is quite in rule as touches 
Savoy and the country of Nice, but it wants the 
city's forms." 

" By San Francesco ! more's the pity. We are 
honest gentlemen of Gen^a, hurrying to witness 
the revels at Vevey, of which rumor gives an 
enticing report, and our sole desire is to come and 
go peaceably. As thou seest, we are late; for 
hearing at the post, on alighting, that a bark was 
about to spread its sails for the other extremity of 
the lake, we had no time to consult all the observ- 
ances that thy city's rules may deem necessary. 



THE HEADSMAN. 33 

So many turn their faces the same way, to witness 
these ancient games, that we had not thought our 
quick passage through the town of sufficient im- 
portance to give thy authorities the trouble to look 
into our proofs." 

" Therein, Signore, you have judged amiss. It 
is my sworn duty to stay all who want the repub- 
Hc's permission to proceed." 

" This is unfortunate, to say no more. Art thou 
the patron of the bark, friend ?" 

" And her owner, Signore," answered Baptiste, 
who listened to the discourse with longings equal 
to his doubts. " I should be a great deal toCf happy 
to count such honorable travellers among my 
passengers." 

" Thou w^ilt then delay thy departure until this 
gentleman shall see the authorities of the town, 
and obtain the required permission to quit it 1 Thy 
compliance shall not go unrewarded." 

As the Genoese concluded, he dropped into a 
palm that was well practised in bribes a sequin of 
the celebrated republic of which he was a citizen. 
Baptiste had long cultivated an aptitude to suffer 
himself to be influenced by gold, and it was with 
unfeigned reluctance that he admitted the necessity 
of refusing, in this instance, to profit by his own 
good dispositions. Still retaining the money, how- 
ever, for he did not well know how to • overcome 
his reluctance to part with it, he answered in a 
manner sufficiently embarrassed, to show the other 
that he had at least gained a material advantage 
by his liberality. 

" His Excellency knows not what he asks," said 
the patron, fumbling the coin between a finger and 
thumb ; " our Genevese citizens love to keep house 
till the sun is up, lest they should break their necks 
by walking about the uneven streets in the dark, and 
it will be two long hours before a single bureau will 



34 THE HEADSMAN. 

open its windows in the town. Besides, your man 
of the police is not Hke us of the lake, happy to get 
a morsel when the weather and occasion permit ; 
but he is a regular feeder, that must have his grapes 
and his wine before he will use his wits for the 
benefit of his employers. The Winkelried would 
weary of doing nothing, with this fresh western 
breeze humming between her masts, while the poor 
gentleman was swearing before the town-house 
gate at the laziness of the officers. I know the 
rogues better than your Excellency, and would ad- 
vise some other expedient." 

Baptiste looked, with a certain expression, at the 
guardian of the water-gate, and in a manner to 
make his meaning sufficiently clear to the travel- 
lers. The latter studied the countenance of the 
Genevese a moment, and, better practised than the 
patron, or a more enlightened judge of character, 
he fortunately refused to commit himself by offer- 
ing to purchase the officer's good-will. If there 
are too many who love to be tempted to forget 
their trusts, by a well-managed venality, there are a 
few who find a greater satisfaction in being thought 
beyond its influence. The watchman of the gate 
happened to be one of the latter class, and, by one 
of the many unaccountable workings of human feel- 
ing, the very vanity which had induced him to suf- 
fer II Maledetto to go through unquestioned, rather 
than expose his ow^i ignorance, now led him to 
wish he might make some return for the stranger's 
good opinion of his honesty. 

" Will you let me look again at the pass, Sig- 
nore?" asked the Genevese, as if he thought a suf- 
ficient legal warranty for that which he now strong- 
ly desired to do might yet be found in the instru- 
ment itself 

The inquiry was useless, unless it was to show 
that the elder Genoese was called the Signor Gri- 



THE HEADSMAN. 35 

maldi and that his companion went by the name of 
Marcelli. Shaking his head he returned the paper 
in the manner of a disappointed man. 

" Thou canst not have read half of what the pa- 
per contains," said Baptiste peevishly ; "your read- 
ing and writing are not such easy matters, that a 
squint of the eye is all-sufficient. Look at it again, 
and thou mayest yet find all in rule. It is unrea- 
sonable to suppose Signori of their rank would 
journey like vagabonds, with papers to be sus- 
pected." 

'•'Nothing is wanting but our city signatures, 
without which my duty will let none go by, that 
are truly travellers." 

" This comes, Signore, of the accursed art of 
writing, which is much pushed and greatly abused 
of late. I have heard the aged watermen of the 
Leman praise the good old time, when boxes and 
bales went and came, and no ink touched paper 
between him that sent and him that carried ; and 
yet it has now reached the pass that a christian 
may not transport himself on his own legs without 
calling on the scriveners for permission !" 

" We lose the moments in words, when it were 
far better to be doing," returned the Signore Gri- 
maldi. " The pass is luckily in the language of the 
country, and needs but a glance to get the appro- 
val of the authorities. Thou wilt do well to say 
thou canst remain the time necessary to see this 
little done." 

" Were your excellency to offer me the Doge's 
crown as a bribe, this could not be. Our Leman 
winds will not wait for king or noble, bishop or 
priest, and duty to those I have in the bark com 
mands me to quit the port as soon as possible." 

" Thou art truly well charged with living freight 
already," said the Genoese, regarding the deeply 
loaded bark with a half-distrustful eye. " I hope 



36 THE HEADSMAN. 

thou hast not overdone thy vessel's powers in re- 
ceiving so many?" 

" I could gladly reduce the number a little, ex- 
cellent Signore, for all that you see piled among 
the boxes and tubs are no better than so many 
knaves, fit only to give trouble and raise questions 
touching the embarkation of those who are willing 
to pay better than themselves. The noble Swiss, 
whom you see seated near the stern, with his daugh- 
ter and people, the worthy Melchior de Willading, 
fives a more liberal reward for his passage to 
^evey than all those nameless rogues together." 

The Genoese made a hasty movement towards 
the patron, with an earnestness of eye and air that 
betrayed a sudden and singular interest in what he 
heard. 

" Did'st thou say de Willading ?" he exclaimed, 
eager as one of much fewer years would have been 
at the unexpected announcement of some pleasur- 
able event. "Melchior, too, of that honorable 
name?" 

" Signore, the same. None other bears the title 
now, for the old line, they say, is drawing to an 
end. I remember this same baron, when he was 
as ready to launch his boat into a troubled lake, as 
any in Switzerland — " 

" Fortune hath truly favored me, good Marcelli !" 
interrupted the other, grasping the hand of his com- 
panion, with strong feeling. " Go thou to the bark, 
master patron, and advise thy passenger that — 
what shall we say to Melchior? Shall we tell 
him at once, who waits him here, or shall we prac- 
tise a little on his failing memory ? By San Fran- 
cesco ! we will do this, Enrico, that we may try 
his powers ! 'Twill be pleasant to see him won- 
der and guess — my life on it, however, that he 
knows me at a glance. T am truly little changed, 
for one that hath seen so much." 



THE HEADSMAN. 37 

The Signor Marcelli lowered his eyes respect- 
fully at this opinion of his friend, but he did not 
see fit to discourage a belief which was merely a 
sudden ebullition, produced by the recollection of 
younger days. Baptiste was instantly dispatched 
with a request that the baron would do a stranger 
of rank the favor to come to the water-gate. 

" Tell him 'tis a traveller disappointed in the 
wish to be of his company,*' repeated the Geno- 
ese. That will suffice. I know him courteous, 
and he is not my Melchior, honest Marcelli, if he 
delay an instant : — thou seest ! he is already quit- 
ting the bark, for never did I know him refuse an 
act of friendliness — dear, dear Melchior — thou 
art the same at seventy as thou wast at thirty !" 

Here the agitation of the Genoese got the better 
of him, and he walked aside, under a sense of 
shame, lest he might betray unmanly weakness. 
In the mean time, the Baron de Willading ad- 
vanced from the water-side, without suspecting 
that his presence was required for more than an 
act of simple courtesy. 

" Baptiste tells me that gentlemen of Genoa are 
here, who are desirous of hastening to the games 
of Vevcy," said the latter, raising his beaver, 
" and that my presence may be of use in obtain- 
ing the pleasure of their company." 

" I will not unmask till we are fairly and de- 
cently embarked, Enrico," whispered the Signor 
Grimaldi ; " nay — by the mass ! not till we are 
fairly disembarked ! The laugh against him will 
never be forgotten. Signore," addressing the 
Bernese with affected composure, endeavoring to 
assume the manner of a stranger, though his voice 
trembled with eagerness at each syllable, " we are 
indeed of Genoa, and most anxious to be of the 
party in your bark — but — he little suspects who 
speaks to him, Marcelli ! — but, Signore, there has 

Vol. I. D 



38 THE HEADSMAN. 

been some small oversight touching the city sig- 
natures, and we have need of friendly assistance, 
either to pass the gate, or to detain the bark until 
the forms of the place shall have been respected." 
" Signore, the city of Geneva hath need to be 
watchful, for it is an exposed and weak state, and 
I have little hope that my influence can cause this 
trusty watchman to dispense with his duty. 
Touching the bark, a small gratuity will do much 
with honest Baptiste, should there not be a ques- 
tion of the stability of the breeze, in which case 
he might be somewhat of a loser." 

*' You say the truth, noble Melchior," put in the 
patron ; " were the wind ahead, or were it two 
hours earlier in the morning, the little delay should 
not cost the strangers a batz — that is to say, 
nothing unreasonable ; but as it is, I have not 
twenty minutes more to lose, even were all the 
city magistrates cloaking to be of the party, in 
their proper and worshipful persons." 

" I greatly regret, Signore, it should be so," 
resumed the baron, turning to the applicant with 
the consideration of one accustomed to season his 
refusals by a gracious manner ; " but these water- 
men have their secret signs, by which, it would 
seem, they know the latest moment they may with 
prudence delay." 

" By the mass ! Marcelli, I will try him a little — 
I should have known him in a carnival dress. 
Signor Barone, we are but poor Italian gentlemen, 
it is true, of Genoa. You have heard of our re- 
public, beyond question — the poor state of Genoa?" 
** Though of no great pretensions to letters, Sig- 
nore," answered Melchior, smiling, " I am not 
quite ignorant that such a state exists. You could 
not have named a city on the shores of your Medi- 
terranean that would sooner warm my heart than 
this very town of which you speak. Many of 



THE HEADSMAN. 39 

my happiest hours were passed within its walls, 
and often, even at this late day, do I live over 
again my life to recall the pleasures of that merry 
period. Were there leisure, I could repeat a hst 
of honorable and much esteemed names that are 
familiar to your ears, in proof of what I say." 

*' Name them, Signor Barone; — for the love of 
the saints, and the blessed virgin, name them, I 
beseech you !" 

A little amazed at the eagerness of the other, 
Melchior de Willading earnestly regarded his fur- 
rowed face ; and, for an instant, an expression 
like incertitude crossed his own features. 

" Nothing would be easier, Signore, than to 
name many. The first in my memory, as he has 
always been the first in my love, is Gaetano Gri- 
maldi, of w^hom, I doubt not, both of you have 
often heard ?" 

" We have, we have ! That is — yes, I think we 
may say, Marcelli, that we have often heard of 
him, and not unfavorably. Well, wdiat of this 
Grimaldi V 

" Signore, the desire to converse of your noble 
townsman is natural, but were I to yield to my 
wishes to speak of Gaetano, I fear the honest 
Baptiste might have reason to complain." 

" To the devil with Baptiste and his bark ! Mel- 
chior, — my good Melchior ! — dearest, dearest Mel- 
chior ! hast thou indeed forgotten me ?" 

Here the Genoese opened wide his ^rms, and 
stood ready to receive the embrace of his friend. 
The Baron de Willading was troubled, but he w^as 
still so far from suspecting the real fact, that he 
could not have easily told the reason why. He gazed 
wistfully at the working features of the fine old 
man who stood before him, and though memory 
seemed to flit around tlie truth, it was in gleams 
so transient as completely to bafHe his wishes 



40 THE HEADSMAN. 

" Dost thou deny me, de Willading ? — doyt thuu 
refuse to own the friend of thy youth — the com- 
panion of thy pleasures — the sharer of thy sor- 
rows — thy comrade in the wars — nay, more — thy 
confidant in a dearer tie ?' 

" None but Gaetano Grimaldi himself can claim 
these titles !" burst from the lips of the trembling 
baron. 

*' Am I aught else ? — am I not this Gaetano ? — 
that Gaetano — thy Gaetano, — old and very dear 
friend ?" 

" Thou Gaetano !" exclaimed the Bernois, re- 
coiling a step, instead of advancing to meet the 
eager embrace of the Genoese, whose impetuous 
feelings were little cooled by time — " thou, the 
gallant, active, daring, blooming Grimaldi ! Sig- 
nore, you trifle with an old man's affections." 

" By the holy mass, I do not deceive thee ! Ha, 
Marcelli, he is slovv^ to believe as ever, but fast and 
certain as the vow of a churchman when con- 
vinced. If we are to distrust each other for a few 
wrinkles, thou wilt find objections rising against 
thine own identity as well as against mine, friend 
Melchior. I am none other than Gaetano — the 
Gaetano of thy youth — the friend thou hast not 
seen these many long and weary years." 

Recognition was slov/ in making its way in the 
mind of the Bernese. Lineament after lineament, 
however, became successively known to him, and 
most of all, the voice served to awaken long dor- 
mant recollections. But, as heavy natures are 
said to have the least self-command when fairly 
excited, so did the baron betray the most ungov- 
ernable emotion of the two, when conviction came 
at last to confirm the words of his friend. He 
threw himself on the neck of the Genoese, and the 
old man wept in a manner that caused him to 



THE HEADSMAN. 41 

withdraw aside, in order to conceal the tears 
which had so suddenly and profusely broken from 
fountains that he had long thought nearly dried. 



CHAPTER III. 

Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen 
That, that this knight and I have seen ! 

King- Henry IV. 

The calculating patron of the Winkelried had 
patiently watched the progress of the foregoing 
scene with great inward satisfaction, but now that 
the strangers seemed to be assured of support 
powerful as that of Melchior de Willading, he was 
disposed to turn it to account without farther de- 
lay. The old men were still standing with their 
hands grasping each other, after another warm 
and still closer embrace, and with tears rolling 
down the furrowed face of each, when Baptiste 
advanced to put in his raven-Hke remonstrance. 

" Noble gentlemen," he said, " if the felicitations 
of one humble as 1 can add to the pleasure of 
this happy meeting, I beg you to accept them; but 
the wind has no heart for friendships nor any 
thought for the gains or losses of us watermen. I 
feel it my duty, as patrbn of the bark, to recall to 
your honors that many poor travellers, far from 
their homes and pining families, are waiting our 
leisure, not to speak of foot-sore pilgrims and other 
worthy adventurers, who are impatient in their 
hearts, though respect for their superiors keeps 
them tongue-tied, while we are losing the best of 
the breeze." 

" By San Francesco ! the varlet is right ;" said 
the Genoese, hurriedly erasing the marks of his 
D 2 



42 THE HEADSMAN. 

recent weakness from his cheeks. " We are for- 
getful of all these worthy people w^hile joy at our 
meeting is so strong, and it is time that we thought 
of others. Canst thou aid me in dispensing with 
the city's signatures V 

The Baron de Willading paused ; for well-dis- 
posed at first to assist any gentlemen who found 
themselves in an unpleasant embarrabsment, it will 
be readily imagined that the case lost none of its 
interest, when he found that his oldest and most 
tried friend was the party in want of his influence. 
Still it was much easier to admit the force of this 
new and unexpected appeal than to devise the 
means of success. The officer was, to use a phrase 
which most men seem to think supplies a substitute 
for reason and principle, too openly committed to 
render it probable he would easily yield. It w^as 
necessary, however, to make the trial, and the 
baron, therefore, addressed the keeper of the 
water-gate more urgently than he had yet done in 
behalf of the strangers. 

" It is beyond my functions ; there is not one of 
our Syndics whom I would more gladly oblige 
than yourself, noble baron," answered the officer; 
" but the duty of the watchman is to adhere strict- 
ly to the commands of those who have placed him 
at his post." 

" Gaetano, we are not the men to complain of 
this ! We have stood together too long in the same 
trench, and have too often slept soundly, in situa- 
tions where failure in this doctrine might have cost 
us our lives, to quarrel with the honest Genevese 
for his watchfulness. To be frank, 'twere little 
use to tamper with the fidelity of a Swiss or with 
that of his ally." 

" With the Swiss that is well paid to be vigi- 
lant !" answered the Genoese, laughing in a way 
to show that he had only revived one of those 



THE HEADSMAN. 43 

standing but biting jests, that they who love each 
other best are perhaps most accustomed to prac- 
tice. 

Tiie Baron de Willading took the facetiousness 
of his friend in good part, returning the mirth of 
the other in a manner to show that the aUusion 
recalled days when their hours had idly passed in 
the indulgence of spontaneous outbreakings of 
animal spirits. 

" Were this thy Italy, Gaetano, a sequin would 
not only supply the place of a dozen signatures, 
but, by the name of thy favorite, San Francesco ! 
it would give the honest gate-keeper that gift of 
second-sight on which the Scottish seers are said 
to pride themselves." 

" Well, the two sides of the Alps will keep their 
characters, even though we quarrel about their 
virtues — but we shall never see again the days 
that we have known ! Neither the games of Ve- 
vey, nor the use of old jokes, v, ill make us the 
youths we have been, dear de Willading !" 

" Signore, a million of pardons," interrupted 
Baptiste, " but this western wind is more incon- 
stant even than the spirits of the young." 

'' The rogue is again right, and we forget yon- 
der cargo of honest travellers, who are wishing 
us both in Abraham's bosom, for keeping the im- 
patient bark in idleness at the quay. Good Mar- 
celh, hast thou aught to suggest in this strait?" 

" Signore, you forget that we have another 
document that may be found sufficient" — the per- 
son questioned, who appeared to fill a middle sta- 
tion between that of a servant and that of a com- 
panion, rather hinted than observed : 

" Thou sayest true — and yet I would gladly 
avoid producing it — but anything is better than 
the loss of thy company, Melchior." 

" Name it not ! We 'shall not separate, though 



44 THE HEADSMAN. 

the Winkelried rot where she Hes. 'Twere easier 
to separate our faithful cantons than two such 
friends." 

" Nay, noble baron, you forget the wearied pil- 
grims and the many anxious travellers in tlie 
bark." 

" If twenty crowns will purchase thy consent, 
honest Baptiste, we will have no further discus- 
sion." 

" It is scarce in human will to withstand you, 
noble Sir ! — Well, the pilgrims have weary feet, 
and rest will only fit them the better for the pas- 
sage of the mountains; and as for the others, why 
let them quit the bark if they dislike the conditions. 
I am not a man to force my commerce on any." 

" Nay, nay, I will have none of this. Keep thy 
gold, Melchior, and let the honest Baptiste keep 
his passengers, to say nothing of his conscience." 

*' I beseech your excellency," interrupted Bap- 
tiste, " not to distress yourself in tenderness for 
me. I am ready to do far more disagreeable 
things to oblige so noble a gentleman." 

"I will none of it ! Signor officer, wilt thou do 
me the favor to cast a glance at this V 

As the Genoese concluded, he placed in the 
hands of the watchman at the gate, a paper differ- 
ent from that which he had first shown. The of- 
ficer perused the new instrument with deep atten- 
tion, and, when half through its contents, his eyes 
left the page to become rivetted in respectful at- 
tention on the face of the expectant Italian. He 
then read the passport to the end. Raising his cap 
ceremoniously, the keeper of the gate left the pas- 
sage free, bowing with deep deference to the 
strangers. 

"Had I sooner known this," he said, "there 
would have been no delay. I hope your excel • 
lency will consider my ignorance — ?" 



THE HEADSMAN. 45 

" Name it not, friend. Thou hast done well ; 
in proof of which I beg thy acceptance of a small 
token of esteem." 

The Genoese dropped a sequin into the hand <5f 
the officer, passing him, at the same time, on his 
way to the waterside. As the reluctance of the 
other to receive gold came rather from a love of 
duty than from any particular aversion to the 
metal itself, this second offering met with a more 
favorable reception than the first. The Baron de 
Willading was not without surprise at the sudden 
success of his friend, though he was far too pru- 
dent and well-bred to let his wonder be seen. 

Every obstacle to the departure of the Winkel- 
ried was now removed, and Baptiste and his crew 
were soon actively engaged in loosening the sails 
and in casting off the fasts. The movement of 
the bark was at first slow^ and heavy, for the wind 
was intercepted by the buildings of the town ; but, 
as she receded from the shore, the canvass began 
to flap and belly, and ere long it filled outward 
with a report like that of a musket ; after which 
the motion of the travellers began to bear some 
relation to their nearly exhausted patience. 

Soon after the party which had been so long 
detained at the water-gate were embarked, Adel- 
heid first learned the reason of the delay. She 
had long known, from the mouth of her father, the 
name and early history of the Signor Grimaldi, a 
Genoese of illustrious family, who had been the 
sworn friend and the comrade of Melchior de 
Willading, when the latter pursued his career in 
armsinthe wars of Italy. These circumstances hav 
ing passed long before her own birth, and even be 
fore the marriage of her parents, and she being the 
youngest and the only survivor of a numerous family 
of children, they were, as respected herself, events 
that already began to assume the hue of history. 



46 THE HEADSMAN. 

She received the old man frankly and even with 
affection, though in his yielding but still fine form, 
she had quite as much difficulty as her father in 
recognizing the young, gay, gallant, brilliant, and 
handsome Gaetano Grimaldi that her imagination 
had conceived from the verbal descriptions she 
had so often heard, and from her fancy was still 
wont to draw as he was painted in the affectionate 
descriptions of her father. When he suddenly and 
affectionately offered a kiss, the color flushed her 
face, for no man but he to whom she owed her be- 
ing had ever before taken that liberty ; but, after 
an instant of virgin embarrassment, she laughed, 
and blushingly presented her cheek to receive the 
salute. 

" The last tidings I had of thee, Melchior," said 
the Italian, " was the letter sent by the Swiss Am- 
bassador, w^ho took our city in his way as he travel- 
ed south, and which was written on the occasion 
of the birth of this very girl." 

" Not of this, dear friend, but of an elder sister, 
who is, long since, a cherub in heaven. Thou 
seest the ninth precious gift that God bestowed, 
and thou seest all that is now left of his bounty." 
The countenance of the Signor Grimaldi lost 
its joyousness, and a deep pause in the discourse 
su(;ceeded. They lived in an age when communi- 
cations between friends that were separated by 
distance, and by the frontiers of different states, 
were rare and uncertain. The fresh and novel 
affections of marriage had first broken an inter- 
course that was continued, under such disadvan- 
tages as marked the period, long after their duties 
called them different w^ays; and time, with its 
changes and the embarrassments of wars, had 
finally destroyed nearly every link in the chain of 
their correspondence. Each had, therefore, much 
of a near and interesting character to communi- 



THE HEADSMAN-. 47 

cate to the other, and each dreaded to speak, lest 
he might cause some wound, that was not perfect- 
ly healed, to bleed anew. The volume of matter 
conveyed in the few v/ords uttered by the Baron 
de Willading, showed both in how many ways 
they might inflict pain without intention, and how 
necessary it was to be guarded in their discourse, 
during the first days of their renewed intercourse. 

*' This girl at least is a treasure of itself, of 
which I must envy thee the possession," the Sig- 
nor Grimaldi at length rejoined. 

The Swiss made one of those quick movements 
which betray surprise, and it was very apparent, 
that, just at the moment, he was more afiected by 
some interest of his friend, than by the apprehen- 
sions which usually beset him w^hen any very di- 
rect allusion was made to his surviving child. 

" Gaetano, thou hast a son !" 

" He is lost — hopelessly — irretrievably lost — at 
least, to me !" 

These were brief but painful glimpses into each 
other's concerns, and another melancholy and em- 
barrassed pause followed. As the Baron de Wil- 
lading witnessed the sorrow that deeply shadowed 
the face of the Genoese, he almost felt that Provi- 
dence, in summoning his own boys to early graves, 
might have spared him the still bitterer grief of 
mourning over the unworthiness of a living son. 

" These are God's decrees, Melchior," the Italian 
continued of his own accord, " and we , as soldiers, 
as men, and more than either, as Christians, 
should know how to submit. The letter, of which 
I spoke, contained the last direct tidings that I re- 
ceived of thy welfare, though different traveller 
have mentioned thee as among the honored and 
trusted of thy country, without descending to the 
particulars of thy private life." 

" The retirement of our mountains, and the little 



48 THE HEADSMAN. 

intercourse of strangers with the Swiss, have de- 
nied me even this meagre satisfaction as respects 
thee and thy fortunes. Since the especial courier 
sent, according to our ancient agreement, to an- 
nounce " 

The baron hesitated, for he felt he was 'again 
touching on forbidden ground. 

" To announce the birth of my unhappy boy," 
continued the Signor Grimaldi, firmly. 

*'To announce that much-w^shed-for event, I 
have not had news of thee, except in a way so 
vague, as to whet the desire to know more rather 
than to appease the longings of love." 

" These doubts are the penalties that friendship 
pays to separation. We enlist the affections in 
youth with the recklessness of hope, and, when 
called different ways by duties or interest, we first 
begin to perceive that the world is not the heaven 
we thought it, but that each enjoyment has its 
price, as each grief has its solace. Thou hast car- 
ried arms since we were soldiers in company ?" 

" As a Swiss only." 

The answer drew a gleam of habitual humor 
from the keen eye of the Italian, whose counte- 
nance was apt to change as rapidly as his thoughts. 

" In what service ?" 

" Nay, a truce to thy old pleasantries, good Gri- 
maldi — and yet I should scarce love thee, as I do, 
wert thou other than thou art ! I believe we come 
at last to prize even the foibles of those we truly 
esteem !" 

" It must be so, young lady, or boyish follies 
would long since have weaned thy father from me. 
I have never spared him on the subjects of snows 
and money, and yet he beareth with me marvel- 
lously. Well, strongs love endureth much. Hath 
the baron often spoken to thee of old Grimaldi — , 



THE HEADSMAN. 49 

young Grimaldi, I should say — and of ihe «jany 
freaks of our thoughtless days ?" 

*' So much, Signore," returned Adelheid, who 
had wept and smiled by turns during the interrupt- 
ed dialogue of her father and his friend, " that I 
can repeat most of your youthful histories. The 
castle of Willading is deep among the mountains, 
and it is rare indeed for the foot of stranger to en- 
ter its gates. During the long evenings of our se- 
vere winters, I have listened as a daughter would 
be apt to listen to the recital of most of your com- 
mon adventures, and in listening, I have not only 
learned to know, but to esteem, one that is justly 
so dear to my parent." 

" I make no doubt, now, thou hast the history of 
the plunge into the canal, by over-stooping to see 
the Venetian beauty, at thy finger's ends ?' 

" I do remember some such act of humid gal- 
lantry," returned Adelheid, laughing. 

" Did thy father tell thee, child, of the manner in 
which he bore me off in a noble rescue from a 
deadly charge of the Imperial cavalry ?" 

" I have heard some light allusion to such an 
event, too," returned Adelheid, evidently trying 
to recall the history of the affair, to her mind, 
" but " 

" Light does he call it, and of small account ? I 
wish never to see another as heavy ! This is the 
impartiahty of thy narratives, good Melchior, in 
which a life preserved, wounds received, and a 
charge to make the German quail, are set down as 
matters to be touched with a light hand !" 

" If I did thee this service, it was more than de- 
served by the manner in which, before Milan " 

" Well, let it all pass together. We are old fools, 
young lady, and should we get garrulous in each 
other's praise, thou mightest mistake us for brag- 
garts; a character that, in truth, neither wholly 

Vol. I. E 



50 THE HEADSMAN. 

merits. Didst thou ever tell the girl, Melchior, of 
our mad excursion into the forests of the Apennines, 
in search of a Spanish lady that had fallen into the 
hands of banditti ; and how we passed weeks on a 
fooHsh enterprise of errantry, that had become use- 
less, by the timely application of a few sequins on 
the part of the husband, even before we started 
on the chivalrous, not to say silly, excursion?" 

" Say chivalrous, but not silly," answered Adel- 
heid, with the simplicity of a young and sincere 
mind. " Of this adventure I have heard ; but to 
me it has never seemed ridiculous. A generous 
motive might well excuse an undertaking of less 
favorable auspices." 

" 'Tis fortunate," returned the Signor Grimaldi, 
thoughtfully, " that, if youth and exaggerated opin- 
ions lead us to commit mad pranks under the name 
of spirit and generosity, there are other youthful 
and generons minds to reflect our sentiments and 
to smile upon our folly." 

" This is more like the wary grey-headed ex- 
pounder of wisdom than like the hot-headed Gae- 
tano Grimaldi of old !" exclaimed the baron, though 
he laughed while uttering the words, as if he felt, 
at least a portion of the other's indifference to 
those exaggerated feelings that had entered much 
into the characters of both in youth. " The 
time has been when the words, policy and calcu- 
lation, would have cost a companion thy favor !" 

" 'Tis said that the prodigal of twenty makes 
the miser of sevent}^ It is certain that even our 
southern sun does not warm the blood of threescore, 
as suddenly as it heats that of one. But we will 
not darken thy daughter's views of the future by a 
picture too faithfully drawn, lest she become wise 
before her time. I have often questioned, Mel- 
chior, which is the most precious gift of nature, a 
warm fancy, or the colder powers of reason. But 



THE HEADSMAN. 51 

if I must say which I most love, the point be- 
comes less difficult of decision. I would prefer each 
in its season, or rather the two united, with a 
gradual change in their influence. Let the youth 
commence with the first in the ascendant, and close 
with the last. He who begins life too cold a rea- 
soner may end it a calculating egotist; and he 
who is ruled solely by his imagination is in danger 
of having his mind so ripened as to bring forth the 
fruits of a visionary. Had it pleased heaven to 
have left me the dear son I possessed for so short 
a period, I would rather have seen him leaning to 
the side of exaggeration in his estimate of men, 
before experience came to chill his hopes, than to 
see him scan his fellows with a too philosophical 
eye in boyhood. 'Tis said we are but clay at the 
best, but the ground, before it has been well tilled, 
sends forth the plants that are most congenial to 
its soil, and though it be of no great value, give 
me the spontaneous and generous growth of the 
weed, which proves the depth of the loam, rather 
than a stinted imitation of that which cultivation 
may, no doubt, render more useful if not more 
grateful." 

The allusion to his lost son caused another cloud 
to pass athwart the brow of the Genoese. 

" Thou seest, Adelheid," he continued, after a 
pause — " for Adelheid will I call thee, in virtue of 
a second father's rights — that we are making our 
folly respectable, at least to ourselves — Master 
Patron, thou hast a well-charged bark !" 

" Thanks to your two honors ;" answered Bap- 
tiste, who stood at the helm, near the group of 
principal passengers. "These windfalls come 
rarely to the poor, and w^e must make much of such 
as offer. The games at Vevey have called every 
craft on the Leman to the upper end of the lake, 
and a little mother-wit led me to trust to the last 



52 THE HEADSMAN. 

turn of the wheel, which, as you see, Signore, has 
not come up a blank." 

" Have many strangers passed by your city on 
their way to these sports ?" 

" Many hundreds, noble gentleman ; and report 
speaks of thousands that are collecting at Vevey, 
and in the neighboring villages. The country of 
Vaud has not had a richer harvest from her games 
this many a year." 

It is fortunate, Melchior, that the desire to wit- 
ness these revels should have arisen in us at the 
same moment. The hope of at last obtaining cer- 
tain tidings of thy welfare was the chief induce- 
ment that caused me to steal from Genoa, whitlier 
I am compelled to return forthwith. There is 
truly something providential in this meeting !" 

" I so esteem it," returned the Baron de Willa- 
ding ; " though the hope of soon embracing thee 
was strongly alive in me. Thou art mistaken in 
fancying that curiosity, or a wish to mingle with 
the multitude at Vevey, has drawn me from my 
castle. Italy was in my eye, as it has long been 
in my heart." 

"How!— Italy?" 

" Nothing less. This fragile plant of the moun- 
tains has drooped of late in her native air, and 
skilful advisers have counselled the sunny side of 
the Alps as a shelter to revive her animation. I 
have promised Roger de Blonay to pass a night or 
two within his ancient walls, and then we aro des- 
tined to seek the hospitality of the monks of St. 
Bernard. Like thee, I had hoped this unusual sortie 
from my hold might lead to intelligence touching 
the fortunes of one I have never ceased to love." 

The Signer Grimaldi turned a more scrutinizing 
look towards the face of their female companion. 
Her gentle and winning beauty gave him pleasure; 
but, with his attention quickened by what had just 



THE HEADSMAN. 53 

fallen from her father, he traced, in silent pain, the 
signs of tiiat early fading which threatened to in- 
clude this last hope of his friend in the common 
fate of the family. Disease had not, however, set 
its seal on the sweet face of Adelheid, in a manner 
to attract the notice of a common observer. The 
lessening of the bloom, the mom'nful character of 
a dove-hke eye, and a look of thoughtfulness, on a 
brow that he had'ever known devoid of care and 
open as day with youthful ingenuousness, were the 
symptoms that first gave the alarm to her father, 
whose previous losses, and whose solitariness, as 
respects the ties of the world, had rendered him 
keenly alive to impressions of such a nature. The 
reflections excited by this examination brought 
painful recollections to all, and it was long before 
the discourse was renewed. 

In the mean time, the Winkelried was not idle. 
As the vessel receded irom the cover of the build- 
ings and the hills, the force of the breeze was felt, 
and her speed became quickened in proportion; 
though the watermen of her crew often studied the 
manner in which she dragged her way through the 
element with a shake of the head, that was intend- 
ed to express their consciousness that too much 
had been required of the craft. The cupidity of 
Baptiste had indeed charged his good bark to the 
uttermost. The water was nearly on a line with 
the low stern, and when the bark had reached a 
part of the lake where the w aves were rolling with 
some force, it was found that the vast weight was 
too much to be lifted by the feeble and broken efforts 
of these miniature seas. The consequences were, 
however, more vexatious than alarming. A few 
wet feet among the less quiet of the passengers, 
with an occasional slapping of a sheet of water 
against the gangways, and a consequent drift ol 
spray across the pile of human heads in the centre 
E2 



54 THE HEADSMAN. 

of the bark, were all the immediate personal in- 
con veniencies. Still unj ustifiable greediness of gain, 
had tempted the patron to commit the unseaman- 
like fault of overloading his vessel. The decrease 
of speed was another and a graver consequence 
of his cupidity, since it might prevent their arrival 
in port before the breeze had expended itself. 

The lake of Geneva lies nearly in the form of a 
crescent, stretching from the south-w^est towards 
the north-east. Its northern, or the Swiss shore, 
is chiefly what is called, in the language of the 
country, a cote, or a dechvity that admits of cul- 
tivation; and, with few exceptions, it has been, 
smce the earliest periods of history, planted with 
the generous vine. Here the Romans had many 
stations and posts, vestiges of which are still visi- 
ble. The confusion and the mixture of interests 
that succeeded the fall of the empire, gave rise, 
in the middle ages, to various baronial castles, ec- 
clesiastical towns, and towers of defence, which 
still stand on the margin of this beautiful sheet of 
water, or ornament the eminences a little inland. 
At the time of which we write, the whole coast 
of the Leman, if so imposing a word may be ap- 
plied to the shores of so small a body of water, 
was in the possession of the three several states 
of Geneva, Savoy, and Berne. The first con- 
sisted of a mere fragment of territory at the west- 
ern, or lower horn of the crescent; the second 
occupied nearly the whole of the southern side of 
the sheet, or the cavity of the half-moon ; while 
the latter was mistress of the whole of the convex 
border, and of the eastern horn. The shores of 
Savoy are composed, with immaterial exceptions, 
of advanced spurs of the high Alps, among which 
towers Mont Blanc, like a sovereign seated in 
majesty in the midst of a brilliant court, the rocks 
frequently rising from the water's edge in perpen- 



THE HEADSMAN. 55 

dicular masses. None of the lakes of this re- 
markable region possess a greater variety of 
scenery than that of Geneva, which changes from 
the smiling aspect of fertihty and cultivation, at 
its low^er extremity, to the subhmity of a savage 
and sublime nature at its upper. Vevey, the haven 
for which the Winkelried was bound, Hes at the 
distance of three leagues from the head of the 
lake, or the point where it receives the Rhone ; 
and Geneva, the port from which the reader has 
just seen her take her departure, is divided by that 
river as it glances out of the blue basin of the Le- 
man again, to traverse the fertile fields of France, 
on its hurried course towards the distant Mediter- 
ranean. 

It is well known that the currents of air, on all 
bodies of water that lie amid high and broken 
mountains, are uncertain both as to their direction 
and their force. This was the difficulty which 
had most disturbed Baptiste during the delay of 
the bark, for the experienced waterman well knew 
it required the first and the freest effort of the w^ind 
to " drive the breeze home," as it is called by sea- 
men, against the opposing currents that frequently 
descend from the mountains V\diich surrounded his 
port. In addition to this difficulty, the shape of 
the lake was another reason why the winds rarely 
blow in the same direction over th^e whole of its 
surfiice at the same time. Strong and continued 
gales commonly force themselves down into the 
deep basin, and push their way, against all resist- 
ance, into every crevice of the rocks ; but a power 
less than this, rarely succeeds in favoring the bark 
with the same breeze, from the entrance to the 
outlet of the Rhone. 

As a consequence of these peculiarities, the pas- 
sengers of the Winkelried had early evidence that 
they had trifled too long with the fickle air. The 



56 THE HEADSMAN. 

breeze carried them up abreast of Lausanne in 
good season, but here the influence of the moun- 
tains began to impair its force, and, by the time 
the sun had a httle fallen towards the long, dark, 
even hne of the Jura, the good vessel was driven 
to the usual expedients of jibing and hauling-in of 
sheets. 

Baptiste had only to blame his own cupidity for 
this disappointment; and the consciousness that, 
had he complied with the engagement, made on 
the previous evening with the mass of his passen- 
gers, to depart with the dawn, he should now have 
been in a situation to profit by any turn of fortune 
that was likely to arise from the multitude of stran- 
gers who were in Vevey, rendered him moody. 
As is usual with the headstrong and selfish when 
they possess the power, others were made to pay 
for the fault that he alone had committed. His 
men were vexed with contradictory and useless 
orders ; the inferior passengers were accused of 
constant neglect of his instructions, a fault which 
he did not hesitate to affirm had caused the bark 
to sail less swiftly than usual, and he no longer 
even answered the occasional questions of those 
for whom he felt habitual deference, with his for- 
mer respect and readiness. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, 
And thrice again, to make up nine. 

Macbeth. 

Baffling and light airs kept the Winkelried a 
long time nearly stationary, and it was only by 
paying the greatest attention to trimming the sails, 
and to all the little minutiae of the waterman's art. 



THE HEADSMAN'. 57 

that the vessel was worked into the eastern horn 
of the crescent, as the sun touched the hazy Hne 
of the Jura. Here the wind failed entirely, the 
surface of the lake becoming as glassy and smooth 
as a mirror, and further motion, for the time at 
least, was quite out of the question. The crew, 
perceiving the hopelessness of their exertions, and 
fatigued with the previous toil, threw themselves 
among the boxes and bales, and endeavored to 
catch a little sleep, in anticipation of the north 
breeze, which, at this season of the year, usually 
blew from the shores of Vaud within an hour or 
two of the disappearance of the sun. 

The deck of the bark was now left to the un- 
disputed possession of her passengers. The day 
had latterly been sultry, for the season, the even 
water having cast back the hot rays in fierce re- 
flection, and, as evening drew on, a refreshing 
coolness came to reheve the densely packed and 
scorching travellers. The effect of such a change 
was Kke that which would have been observed 
among a flock of heavily fleeced sheep, which, 
after gasping for breath beneath trees and hedges, 
during the time of the sun's power, are seen scat- 
tering over their pastures to feed, or to play their 
antics, as a grateful shade succeeds to cool their 
panting sides. 

Baptiste, as is but too apt to be the case with 
men possessed of brief authority, during the day 
had mercilessly played the tyrant with all the pas- 
sengers that were beneath the privileged degrees, 
more than once threatening to come to extremi- 
ties with several, who had betrayed restlessness 
under the restraint and suflering of their unaccus- 
tomed situation. Perhaps there is no man who 
feels less for the complaints of the novice than 
your weather-beaten and hardened mariner ; for, 
familiarized to the suflferinsc and confinement of a 



58 THE HEADSMAN. 

vessel, and at liberty himself to seek relief in his 
duties and avocations, he can scarcely enter into 
the privations and embarrassments of those to 
v^hom all is so new^ and painful. But, in the pa- 
tron of the Winkelried, there existed a natural in- 
difference to the grievances of others, and a nar- 
row selfishness of disposition, in aid of the opinions 
which had been formed by a life of hardship and 
exposure. He considered the vulgar passenger 
as so much troublesome freight, which, while it 
brought the advantage of a higher remuneration 
than the same cubic measurement of inanimate 
matter, had the unpleasant drawback of volition 
and motion. With this general tendency to bully 
and intimidate, the wary patron had, however, 
made a silent exception in favor of the Italian, 
who has introduced himself to the reader by the 
ill-omened name of II Maledetto, or the accursed. 
This formidable personage had enjoyed a perfect 
immunity from the effects of Baptiste's tyranny, 
which he had been able to establish by a very 
simple and quiet process. Instead of cowering at 
the fierce glance, or recoiling at the rude remon- 
strances of the churlish patron, he had chosen his 
time, when the latter was in one of his hottest 
ebullitions of anger, and when maledictions and 
menaces flowed out of his mouth in torrents, coolly 
to place himself on the very spot that the other 
had proscribed, where he maintained his ground 
with a quietness and composure which it might 
have been difficult to say was more to be imputed 
to extreme ignorance, or to immeasurable con- 
tempt. At least so reasoned the spectators ; some 
thinking that the stranger meant to bring affairs to 
a speedy issue by braving the patron's fury, and 
others charitably inferring that he knew no better. 
But thus did not Baptiste reason himself. He saw 
bv the calm eye and resolute demeanor of his pas- 



THE HEADSMAN. 59 

senger that he himself, his pretended professional 
difficulties, his captiousness, and his threats, were 
alike despised ; and he shrank from collision with 
such a spirit, precisely on the principle that the in- 
timidated among the rest of the travellers shrunk 
rom a contest with his own. From this moment 
II Maledetto, or, as he was called by Baptiste him 
self, who it would appear had some knowledge of 
his person, Maso, became as completely the mas- 
ter of his own movements, as if he had been one 
of the more honored in the stern of the bark, or 
even her patron. He did not abuse his advantage, 
however, rarely quitting the indicated station near 
his own effects, where he had been mainly content 
to repose in listless indolence, like the others, dozing 
away the minutes. 

But the scene was now altogether changed. 
The instant the wrangling, discontented, and un- 
happy, because disappointed, patron, confessed his 
inability to reach his port before the coming of 
the expected night-breeze, and threw himself on 
a bale, to conceal his dissatisfaction in sleep, head 
arose after head from among the pile of freight, 
and body after body followed the nobler member, 
until the whole mass was alive with human beings. 
The invigorating coolness, the tranquil hour, the 
prospect of a safe if not a speedy arrival, and the 
relief from excessive weariness, produced a sud- 
den and agreeable re-action in the feelings of all. 
Even the Baron de Willading and his friends, who 
had shared in none of the especial privations just 
named, joined in the general exhibition of satis- 
faction and good- will, rather aiding by their smiles 
and affability, than restraining by their presence 
the whims and jokes of the different individuals 
among the motley group of their nameless com- 
panions. 

The aspect and position of the bark, as well as 



60 THE HEADSMAN. 

the prospects of those on board as they were con- 
nected with their arrival, now deserve to be more 
particularly mentioned. The manner in which 
the vessel was loaded to the water's edge has 
already been more than once alluded to... The 
whole of the centre of the broad deck, a portio 
of the Winkelried which, owing to the over-hang- 
ing gangways, possessed, in common with all the 
similar craft of the Leman, a greater width than 
is usual in vessels of the same tonnage elsewhere, 
was so cumbered with freight as barely to leave a 
passage to the crew, forward and aft, by stepping 
among the boxes and bales that w^ere piled much 
higher than their ow^n heads. A little vacant 
space was left near the stern, in which it was pos- 
sible for the party who occupied that part of the 
deck to move, though in sufficiently straitened 
limits, while the huge tiller played in its semicir- 
cle behind. At the other extremity, as is abso- 
lutely necessary in ail navigation, the forecastle 
was reasonably clear, though even this important 
part of the deck w^as bristling with the flukes of 
no less than nine anchors that lay in a row across 
its breadth, the wild roadsteads of this end of 
the lake rendering such a provision of ground- 
tackle absolutel)^ indispensable to the safety of 
every craft that ventured into its eastern horn. 
The effect of the whole, seen as it was in a state 
of absolute rest, was to give to the Winkelried the 
appearance of a small mound in the midst of the 
water, that was crowded with human beings, and 
seemingly so incorporated with the element on 
which it floated as to grow out of its bosom ; an 
image that the fancy was not slow to form, aided 
as it was by the reflection of the mass that the 
unruffled lake threw back from its mirror-like face, 
as perfectly formed, as unwieldy, and nearly as 
distinct, as the original. To this picture of a mo- 



THE HEADSMAN. 61 

tionless rock, or island, the spars, sails, and high, 
pointed beak, however, formed especial excep- 
tions. The yards hung, as seamen term it, a 
cockbill, or in such negligent and picturesque po- 
sitions as an artist would most love to draw^ while 
{he drapery of the canvass was suspended in grace- 
ful and spotless festoons, as it had fallen by chance, or 
been cast carelessly from the hands of the boatmen. 
The beak, or prow, rose in its sharp gallant stem, 
resembling the stately neck of a swan, slightly 
swerving from its direction, or inclining in a 
nearly imperceptible sweep, as the hull yielded to 
the secret influence of the varying currents. 

When the teeming pile of freight, therefore, 
began so freely to bring forth, and traveller aftei 
traveller left his wallet, there was no great space 
found in which they could stretch their wearied 
limbs, or seek the change they needed. But suf- 
fering is a good preparative for pleasure, and 
there is no sweetner of liberty like previous con- 
finement. Baptiste w^as no sooner heard to snore, 
than the whole hummock of cargo was garnished 
with upright bodies and stretching arms and legs, 
as mice are known to steal from their holes during 
the slumbers of their mortal enemy, the cat. 

The reader has been made sufficiently acquaint- 
ed with the moral composition of the Winkelried's 
living freight, in the opening chapter. As it had 
undergone no other alteration than that produced 
by lassitude, he is already prepared, therefore, to 
renew his communications with its different mem- 
bers, all of whom were well disposed to show off* 
in their respective characters, the moment they 
were favored with an opportunity. The mercu- 
rial Pippo, as he had been the most difficult to 
restrain during the day, was the first to steal from 
his lair, now that the Argus-like eyes of Baptiste 
permitted the freedom, and the exhilarating cool- 

\^0L. I. F 



62 THE HEADSMAN. 

ness of the sunset invited action. His success 
emboldened others, and, ere long, the buffoon had 
an admiring audience around him, that was well- 
disposed to laugh at his witticisms, and to applaud 
all his practical jokes. Gaining courage as he pro 
ceeded, the buffoon gradually went from liberty to 
liberty, until he was at length triumphantly estab 
lished on what might be termed an advanced spur 
of the mountain formed by the tubs of Nicklaus 
Wagner, in the regular exercise of his art ; while 
a crowd of amused and gaping spectators clus- 
tered about him, peopling every eminence of the 
height, and even invading the more privileged 
deck in their eagerness to see and to admire. 

Though frequently reduced by adverse fortune 
to the lowest shifts of his calling, such as the 
horse-play of Policinello, and the imitation of un- 
couth sounds, that resembled nothing either in hea- 
ven or earth, Pippo was a clever knave in his way, 
and was quite equal toa displayof the higher branch- 
es of his art, whenever chance gave him an audience 
capable of estimating his qualities. On the pre- 
sent occasion he was obliged to address himself 
both to the polished and to the unpolished ; for the 
proximity of their position, as w^ell as a good- 
natured readiness to lend themselves to fooleries 
that were so agreeable to most around them, had 
brought the more gentle portion of the passengers 
within the influence of his wit. 

** And now, illustrissimi signori," continued the 
wily juggler, after having drawn a burst of ap- 
plause by one of his happiest hits in a sleight-of- 
hand exhibition, " I come to the most imposing 
and the most mysterious part of my knowledge — 
that of looking into the future, and of foreteUing 
events. If there are any among you who would 
wish to know how long they are to eat the bread 
of toil, let them come to me ; if there is a youth 



THE HEADSMAN. 63 

that wishes to learn whether the heart of his mis- 
tress is made of flesh or of stone — a maiden that 
would see into a youth's faith and constancy, 
while her long eyelashes cover her sight like a 
modest silken veil — or a noble, that would fain 
have an insight into the movements of his rivals at 
court or council, let them all put their questions to 
Pippo, who has an answer ready for each, and an 
answer so real, that the most expert among the 
listeners will be ready to swear that a lie from his 
mouth is worth more than truth from that of ano- 
ther man." 

" He that \vould gain credit for knowledge of 
the future," gravely observed the Signer Grimaldi, 
who had listened to his countryman's voluble 
eulogium on his own merits with a good-natured 
laugh, " had best commence by showing his fa- 
miliarity with the past. Who and what is he that 
speaks to thee, as a specimen of thy skill in sooth- 
saying ?" 

" His eccellenza is more than he seems, less than 
he deserves to be, and as much as any present. 
He hath an old and a prized friend at his elbow ; 
hath come because it was his pleasure, to witness 
the games at Vevey — will depart for the same 
reason, when they are over, and will seek his home 
at his leisure — not like a fox stealing into his hole, 
"but as the stately ship sails, gallantly, and by the 
hght of the sun, into her haven." 

" This will never do, Pippo," returned the good- 
humoured old noble ; " at need I might equal this 
myself. Thou shouldst relate that which is less 
probable, while it is more true." 

" Signore, we prophets like to sleep in whole 
skins. If it be your eccellenza's pleasure and that 
of your noble company to hsten to the truly won- 
derful, I will teH some of these honest people mat- 
ters touching their own interests that they do not 



64 THE HEADSMAN. 

know themselves, and yet it shall be as clear to' 
every body else as the sun m the heavens at noon- 
day." 

" Thou wilt, probably, tell them their faults ?" 
" Your eccellenza has a right to my place, foi 
no prophet could have better divined my inten- 
tion ;" answered the laughing knave. " Come 
nearer, friend," he added, beckoning to the Ber- 
nois; "thou art Nicklaus Wagner, a fat peasant 
of the- great canton, and a .warm husbandman, 
that fancies he has a title to the respect of all he 
meets because some one among his fathers bought 
a right in the biirgerschaft. Thou hast a large 
stake in the Winkelried, and art at this moment 
thinking what punishment is good enough for 
an impudent soothsayer who dares dive so un- 
ceremoniously into the secrets of so w^arm a 
citizen, while all around thee wish thy cheeses had 
never left the dairy, to the discomfort of our limbs 
and to the great detriment of the bark's speed." 
• This sally at the expense of Nicklaus drew a 
burst of merriment from the listeners ; for the sel- 
fish spirit he had manifested throughout the day 
had w^on little favor with a majority of his fel- 
low travellers, who had all the generous propen- 
sities that are usually so abundant among those who 
have little or nothing to bestow, and who were by 
this time so well disposed to be merry that much 
less would have served to stimulate their mirth. 

" Wert thou the owner of this good freight 
friend, thou might find its presence less uncom 
fortable than thou now appearest to think," return 
ed the literal peasant, who had no humour foi 
raillery, and to whom a jest on the subject of 
property had that sort of irreverend character that 
popular opinion and holy sayings have attached to 
waste. " The cheeses are v/ell enough w^here thev 



THE HEADSMAN. 65 

find themselves; if thou dislikest then' company 
thou hast the alternative of the water." 

" A truce betw^een us, worshipful burgher ! and 
let our skirmish end in something that may be use- 
ful to both. Thou hast that which would be ac- 
ceptable to me, and I have that which no owner of 
cheeses would refuse, did he know the means by 
which it might be come at honestly." 

Nicklaus growled a few words of distrust and 
indifference, but it was plain that the ambiguous 
language of the juggler, as usual, had succeeded in 
awakening interest. With the affectation of a 
mind secretly conscious of its own infirmity, he 
pretended to be indifferent to w^hat the other pro- 
fessed a readiness to reveal, while with the rapa- 
city of a grasping spirit he betrayed a longing to 
know more. 

" First I will tell thee," said Pippo, with a pa- 
rade of good-nature, " that thou deservest to remain 
in ignorance, as a punishment of thy pride and 
want of faith ; but it is the failing of your prophet 
to let that be known w^hich he ought to conceal. 
Thou flatterest thyself this is the fattest cargo of 
cheeses that will cross the Swiss waters this sea- 
son, on their way to an Itahan market? Shake 
not thy head. — 'Tis useless to deny it to a man of 
my learning !" 

" Nay, I know there are others as heavy, and, it 
may be, as good ; but this has the advantage of be- 
ing the first, a circumstance that is certain to com- 
mand a price." 

" Such is the blindness of one that nature sent 
on earth to deal in cheeses !" — The Herr Von Wil- 
lading and his friends smiled among themselves at 
the cool impudence of the mountebank — " Thou 
fanciest it is so ; and at this moment, a heavily la- 
den bark is driving before a favorable gale, near 
the upper end of the lake of the four cantons, while 
F2 



66 THE HEADSMAN. 

a long line of mules is waiting at Fliiellen, to bear^ 
its freight by the paths of the St. Gothard, to Mi- 
lano and other rich markets of the south. In vir- 
tue of my secret power, 1 see that, in despite of alJ 
thy cravings, it will arrive before thine." 

Nicklaus fidgeted, for the graphic particularity 
of Pippo almost led him to believe the augury 
might be true. 

" Had this bark sailed according to our cove- 
nant," he said, with a simplicity that betrayed his 
uneasiness, " the beasts bespoken by me would now 
be loading at Viileneuve ; and, if there be justice 
in Vaud, I shall hold Baptiste responsible for any 
disadvantage that may come of the neglect." 

" Luckily, the generous Baptiste is asleep," re- 
turned Pippo, " or Vv^e might hear objections to this 
scheme. But, Signiori, I see you are satisfied with 
this insight into the character of the warm peasant 
of Berne, who, to say truth, has not much to con- 
'^eal from us, and I will turn my searching looks 
into the soul of this pious pilgrim, the reverend Con- 
rado, whose unction may well go near to be a 
leaven sufficient to lighten all in the bark of their 
burthens of backslidings. Thou carriest the peni- 
tence and prayers of many sinners, besides some 
merchandise of this nature of thine own." 

" I am bound to Loretto, with the mental offer- 
ings of certain Christians, who are too much occu- 
pied with their daily concerns to make the journey 
m person," answered the pilgrim,' v/ho never abso- 
lutely threw aside his professional character, though 
he cared in general so little about his hypocrisy 
being known. " I am poor, and humble of appear 
ance, but I have seen miracles in my day !" 

"If any trust valuable offerings to thy keeping, 
thou art a living miracle in thine ov/n person ! I 
can foresee that thou wilt bear nought else beside 
aves." 



THE HEADSMAN^. 67 

" Nay, I pretend to deal in little more. The rich 
and great, they that send vessels of gold and rich 
dresses to Our Lady, employ their own favorite 
messengers ; I am but the bearer of prayer and the 
substitute for the penitent. The sufferings that I 
undergo in the flesh are passed to the credit of my 
employers, who get the benefit of my aches and 
pains. I pretend to be no more than their go-be- 
tween, as 3'onder manner has so lately called me." 

Pippo turned suddenly, following the direction 
of the other's eye, and cast a glance at the self- 
styled II Maledetto. This individual, of all the 
common herd, had alone forborne to join the ga- 
ping and amused crowd near the juggler. His for- 
bearance, or vv^ant of curiosity, had left him in the 
quiet possession of the little platform that was made 
by the stowage of the boxes, and lie novv' stood on 
the summit of the pile, conspicuous by his situation 
and mein, the latter being remarkable for its un- 
moved calmness, heightened by the understanding 
manner that is so peculiar to a seaman when 
afloat." 

" Wilt thou have the history of thy coming per- 
ils, friend mariner?" cried the mercurial mounte- 
bank : " A journal of thy future risks and tempests 
to amuse you in this calm ? Such a picture of sea- 
monsters and of coral that grows in the ocean's 
caverns, where mariners sleep, that shall give thee 
the night-mare for months, and cause thee to dream 
of wrecks and bleached bones for the rest of thy 
life ? Thou hast only to wish it, to have the ad- 
ventures of thy next voyage laid before thee, like a 
map." 

" Thou would'st gain more credit with me, as 
one cunning in thy art, by giving the history of the 
last." 

" The request is reasonable, and thou shalt have 
it ; for I love the bold adventurer that trusts him- 



68 THE HEADSMAN. 

self hardily upon the great deep ;" answered the 
unabashed Pippo. " My first lessons in necroman- 
cy were received on the mole of Napoh, amid bur- 
ly Inglesi, straight-nosed Greeks, swarthy Sicihans, 
and Maltese with spirits as fine as the gold of their 
own chains. This was the school in which I 
learned to know my art, and an apt scholar I pro- 
ved in all that touches the philosophy and humani- 
ty of my craft. Signore, thy palm ?" 

Maso spread his sinewy hand in the direction of 
the juggler, without descending from his elevation, 
and in a way to show that, while he would not 
balk the common humor, he was superior to the 
gaping wonder and childish credulity of most of 
those who watched the result. Pippo affected to 
stretch out his neck, in order to study the hard and 
dark fines, and then he resumed his revelations, 
like one perfectly satisfied with what he had dis- 
^covered. 

" The hand is masculine, and has been familiar 
with many friends in its time. It hath dealt with 
steel, and cordage, and saltpetre, and most of all 
with gold. Signori, the true seat of a man's di- 
gestion lies in the palm of his hand ; if that is 
free to give and to receive, he wdll never have a 
costive conscience, for of all damnable inconve- 
niences that afflict mortals, that of a conscience 
that will neither give up nor take is the heaviest 
curse. Let a man have as much sagacity as shall 
make him a cardinal, if it get entangled in the 
meshes of one of your unyielding consciences, ye 
shall see him a mendicant brother to his dying 
day ; let him be born a prince with a close-ribbed 
opinion of this sort, and he had better have been 
born a beggar, for his reign will be like a river 
from which the current sets outward, without any 
return. No, my friends, a palm hke this of Maso's 
is a favorable sign, since it hinges on a pliant will. 



TilE HEADSMAN. 69 

that will open and shut hke a well-formed eye, or 
the jacket of a shell-fish, at its owaier's pleasure. 
Thou hast drawn near to many a port before this 
of Vevey, after the sun has fallen low, Signor 
Maso !" 

" In that I have taken a seaman's chances 
which depend more on the winds than on his ow 
wishes.'' 

'' Thou esteernest the bottom of the craft in 
which thou art required to sail, as far more im- 
portant than her ancient. Thou hast an eye for 
a keel, but none for color ; unless, indeed, as it 
may happen to be convenient to seem that thou 
art not." 

"■ Nay, Master Soothsayer, I suspect thee to be 
an officer Of some of the' Holy Brotherhoods, sent 
in this guise to question us poor travellers to our 
ruin !" answered Maso. " I am, what thou seest,4 
but a poor mariner that hath no better bark under 
him than this of Baptiste, and on a sea no larger 
than a Swiss lake." 

'* Shrev/dly observed," said Pippo, winking to 
those near him, though he so little liked the eye 
and bearing of the other that he was not sorry to 
turn to some new subject. " But vvhat matters it, 
Signori, to be speaking of the qualities of men ! 
We are all aUke, honorable, merciful, more dis- 
posed to help others than to help ourselves, and so 
little given to selfishness, that nature has been 
obliged to supply every mother's son of us with a 
sort of goad, that shall be constantly pricking us 
on to look after our own interests. Kere are ani- 
mals whose dispositions are less understood, and 
we will bestow a useful minute in examining their 
qualities. Reverend Augustine, this mastiff of 
thine is named Uberto ?" 

" He is known by that appellation throughout 
"'he cantons and their allies. The fame of the dog 



70 THE HEADSMAN. 

reaches even to Turin and to most of the towns in 
the plain of Lombardy." 

" Now, Signori, you perceive that this is but a 
secondary creature in the scale of animals. Do 
him good and he will be grateful ; do him harm, 
and he will forgive. Feed him, and he is satisfied. 
He will travel the paths of the St. Bernard, night 
and day, to do credit to his training, and when 
the toil is ended, all he asks is just as much meat 
as will keep the breath within his ribs. Had 
heaven given Uberto a conscience and greater 
wit, the first might have shown him the impiety 
of working for travellers on holy days and festas, 
while the latter would be apt to say he was a fool 
for troubling himself a'uout the safety of others at 
all." 

*' And yet his masters, the good Augustines them- 
^ selves, do not hold so selfish a creed !" observed 
Adelheid. 

" Ah ! they have heaven in view ! I cry the 
reverend Augustine's pardon — but, lady, the dif- 
ference is in the length of the calculation. Woe 's 
me, brethren ; I would that my parents had edu- 
cated me for a bishop, or a viceroy, or some other 
modest employment, that this learned craft of 
mine might have fallen into better hands ! Ye 
would lose in instruction, but I should be removed 
from the giddy heights of ambition, and die at last 
with some hopes of being a saint. Fair lady, thou 
travellest on a bootless errand, if I know the rea- 
son that tempts thee to cross the Alps at this late 
season of the year." 

This sudden address caused both Adelheid and 
her father to start, for, in despite of pride and the 
force of reason, it is seldom that w^e can complete- 
ly redeem our opinions from the shackles of super- 
stition, and that dread of the unseen future which 
appears to have been entailed upon our nature, as 



THE HEADSMAJf. 71 

a ceaseless monitor of the eternal state of being to 
which all are hastening, with steps so noiseless and 
yet so sure. The countenance of the maiden 
changed, and she turned a quick, involuntary glance 
at her anxious parent, as if to note the effect of 
this rude announcement on him before she answer 
ed. 

" I go in quest of the blessing, heahh," she said, 
" and I should be sorry to think thy prognostic 
likely to be realized. With youth, a good consti- 
tution, and tender friends of my side, there is rea- 
son to think thou mayest, in this at least, prove a 
false prophet." 

" Lady, hast thou hope ?" 

Pippo ventured this question as he had adventured 
his opinion ; that is to say, recklessly, pretendingly, 
and with great indifference to any effect it might 
have, except as it was likely to establish his repu- 
tation with the crowd. Still, it would seem, that 
by one of those singular coincidences that are 
hourly occurring in real life, he had unwittingly 
touched a sensitive chord in the system of his fair 
fellow-traveller. Her eyes sank to the deck at this 
abrupt question, the color again stole to her pol- 
ished temples, and the least practised in the emo- 
tions of the sex might have detected painful em- 
barrassment in her mein. She was, however, 
spared the awkwardness of a reply, by the unexpect- 
ed and prompt interference of Maso. 

" Hope is the last of our friends to prove re- 
creant," said this mariner, " else would the cases 
of many in company be bad enough, thine own 
included, Pippo ; for, judging by the outward signs, 
the Swabian campaign has not been rich in spoils." 

"' Providence has ordered the harvests of wit 
much as it has ordered the harvests of the field," 
returned the juggler, who felt the sarcasm of the 
other's remark with all the poignancy that it could 



72 THE HEADSMA?f. 

derive from truth ; since, to expose his real situa- 
tion, he was absohitely indebted to an extraordi- 
nary access of generosity in Baptiste, for his very 
passage across the Leman. " One year, thou shalt 
find the vineyard dripping liquors precious as dia- 
monds, while, the next, barrenness shall make it 
its seat. To-day the peasant will complain that 
poverty prevents him from building the covering 
necessary to house his crops, while to-morrow he 
will be heard groaning over empty garners. Abun- 
dance and famine travel the earth hard upon eacii 
other's heels, and it is not surprising that he Vv'-ho 
hves by his wits should sometimes fail of his har- 
vest, as well as he who lives by his hands." . 

" If constant custom can secure success, the pious 
Conrad should be prosperous," answered Maso, 
" for, of all machinery, that of sin is the least sel- 
dom idle. His trade at least can never fail for 
want of employers." 

" Thou hast it, Signor Maso ; and it is for this 
especial reason that I wish my parents had edu- 
cated me for a bishoprick. He that is charged 
with reproving his fellow creatures for their vices 
need never know an idle hour." 

" Thou dost not understand what thou sayest," put 
in Conrad ; " love for the saints has much fallen 
away since my youth, and where there is one 
Christian ready now to bestov/ his silver, in order 
to get the blessing of some favorite shrine, there 
were then ten. I have heard the elders of us pil- 
grims say, that, fifty years since, 'twas a pleasure 
to bear the sins of a whole parish, for ours is a 
business in which the load does not so much depend 
on the amount as the quality ; and, in their time, 
there were willing offerings, frank confessions, 
and generous consideration for those who under- 
took the toil." 

"In such a trade, the less thou hast to answer 



THE HEADSMAN. 73 

for, in behalf of others, the more will pass to thy 
credit on the score of thine own backsUdings," 
pithily remarked Nicklaus Wagner, who was a stur- 
dy Protestant, and apt enough at levelhng these 
side-hits at those who professed a faith, obnoxious 
to the attacks of all who dissented from the opinions 
and the spiritual domination of Rome. 

But Conrad was a rare specimen of what may 
be effected by training and well-rooted prejudices. 
In presenting this man to the mind of the reader, 
we have no intention to impugn the doctrines of the 
particular church to which he belonged, but sim- 
ply to show, as the truth will fully warrant, to what 
a pass of flagrant and impudent pretension the 
quahties of man, unbridled by the wholesome cor- 
rective of a sound and healthful opinion, was ca- 
pable of conducting abuses on the most solemn 
and gravest subjects. In that age usages prevail- 
ed, and were so familiar to the minds of the actors 
as to excite neither reflection nor comment, which 
would now lead to revolutions, and a general rising 
in defence of principles which are held to be clear 
as the air we breathe. Though we entertain no 
doubt of the existence of that truth w^hich pervades 
the universe, and to which all things tend, we 
think the world, in its practices, its theories, and 
its conventional standards of right and wrong, is 
in a condition of constant change, which it should 
be the business of the wise and good to favor, so 
long as care is had that the advantage is not bought 
by a re-action of evil, that shall more than prove 
its counterpoise. Conrad was one of the lowest 
class of those fungi that grow out of the decayed 
parts of the moral, as their more material types 
prove the rottenness of the vegetable, world; and 
the probability of the truth of the portraiture is not 
to be loosely denied, without mature reflection on 
the similar anomalies that are vet to be found on 

Vol. I. G 



74 THE HEADSilAN". 

every side of us, or without studying the history of 
the abuses which then disgraced Christianity, and 
which, in truth, became so intolerable in their 
character, and so hideous in their features, as to 
be the chief influencing cause to bring about their 
own annihilation. 

Pippo, who had that useful tact which enables a 
man to measure his own estimation with others, 
Avas not slow to perceive that the more enlightened 
part of his audience began to tire of this pretend- 
ing buffoonery. Resorting to a happy subterfuge, 
by means of one of his sleight-of hand expedients, 
he succeeded in transferring the whole of that por- 
tion of the spectators who still found amusement 
in his jugglery, to the other end of the vessel, 
where they established themselv^es among the an- 
chors, ready as ever to swallow an aliment, that 
seems to find an unextinguishable appetite for its 
reception among the vulgar. Here he continued 
his exhibition, nov/ moralizing in the quaint and 
often in the pithy manner, which renders the south- 
ern buffoon so much superior to his duller compe- 
titor of the north, and uttering a wild jumble of 
wholesome truths, loose morality, and witty inuen- 
does, the latter of which never failed to extort roars 
of laughter from all but those who happened to be 
their luckless subjects. 

Once or twice Baptiste raised his head, and stared 
about him with drowsy eyes, but, satisfied there 
was nothing to be done in the way of forcing the 
vessel ahead, he resumed his nap, without inter- 
fering in the pastime of those whom he had hith- 
erto seemed to take pleasure in annoying. Left 
entirely to themselves, therefore, the crowd on 
the forecastle represented one of those every-day 
but profitable pictures of life, which abound under 
our eyes, but which, though they are pregnant with 
instruction, are treated with the indifl^erence that 



THE HEADSMAN. 75 

would seem to be the inevitable consequence of 
familiarity. 

The crowded and overloaded bark might have 
been compared to the vessel of human life, which 
floats at all times subject to the thousand accident 
of a delicate and complicated machinery : the lake 
so smooth and alluring in its present tranquillity, 
but so capable of lashing its iron-bound coasts with 
fury, to a treacherous world, whose smile is al- 
most always as dangerous as its frown; and, to 
complete the picture, the idle, laughing, thought- 
less, and yet inflammable group that surrounded 
the buffoon, to the unaccountable medley of human 
sympathies, of sudden and fierce passions, of fun 
and frolic, so inexplicably mingled with the gross- 
est egotism that enters into the heart of man: in 
a word, to so much that is beautiful and divine, 
with so much that would seem to be derived di- 
rectly from the demons, a compound which com- 
poses this mysterious and dread state of being, and 
which we are taught, by reason and revelation, 
is only a preparation for another still more incom- 
prehensible and wonderful. 



CHAPTER V. 

" How like a fawning publican he looks !" 

Shylock. 

The change of the juggler's scene of action left 
the party in the stern of the barge, in quiet posses- 
sion of their portion of the vessel. Baptiste and 
his boatmen still slept among the boxes; Maso 
continued to pace his elevated platform above their 
heads ; and the meek-looking stranger, whose en- 



76 THE HEADSMAN. 

trance into the barge had drawn so many witticisms 
from Pippo, sate a little apart, silent, furtively ob- 
servant, and retiring, in the identical spot he had 
occupied throughout the day. With these excep- 
tions, the whole of the rest of the travellers w^ere 
crowding around the person of the mountebank. 
Perhaps we have not done well, however, in class- 
ing either of the two just named with the more 
common herd, for there were strong points of 
difference to distinguish both from most of their 
companions. 

The exterior and the personal appointments of 
the unknown traveller, who had shrunk so sensi- 
tively before the hits of the Neapolitan, was greatly 
superior to those of any other in the bark beneath 
the degree of the gentle, not even excepting those 
of the warm peasant Nicklaus Wagner, the owner 
of so large a portion of the freight. There was a 
decency of air that commanded more respect than 
it was then usual to yield to the nameless, a quiet- 
ness of demeanor that denoted reflection and the 
habit of self-study and self-correction, together with 
a deference to others that was well adapted to gain 
friends. In the midst of the noisy, clamorous 
merriment of all around him, his restrained and 
rebuked manner had won upon the favor of the 
more privileged, who had unavoidably noticed the 
difference, and had prepared the way to a more 
frank communication between the party of the no- 
ble, and one who, if not their equal in the usual 
points of worldly distinction, was greatly superior 
to those among whom he had been accidentally 
cast by the chances of his journey. Not so with 
Maso ; he, apparently, had little in common with 
the unobtruding and silent being that sat so near 
his path, in the short turns he was making to and 
fro across the pile of freight. The mariner was 
much the younger, his years scarcely reaching 



THE HEADSMAN. 77 

thirty, while the head of the unknown traveller was 
already beginning to be sprinkled v/ith gray. The 
walk, attitudes, and gestures, of the former, w^ere 
also those of a man confident of himself, a little 
addicted to be indifferent to others, and far more 
disposed to lead than to follow. These are quali- 
ties that it may be thought his present situation 
w^as scarcely suited to discover, but they had been 
made sufficiently apparent, by the cool, calculating 
looks he threw, from time to time, at the manoeu- 
vres commanded by Baptiste, the expressive sneer 
with w^hich he criticised his decisions, and a few 
biting rema.rks w^hich had escaped him in the course 
of the day, and w^hich had conveyed any thing but 
compliments to the nautical skill of the patron and 
iiis fresh-water follow^ers. Still there were signs 
of better stuff in this suspicious-looking person than 
are usually seen about men, whose attire, pursuits 
and situation, are so indicative of the w'orld's 
pressing hard upon their principles, as happened to 
be the fact with this poor and unknown seaman. 
Though ill clad, and w^earing about him the general 
tokens of a vagrant life, and that loose connexion 
wath society that is usually taken as sufficient evi- 
dence of one's demerits, his countenance occasion- 
ally denoted thought, and, during the day, his eye 
had frequently wandered towards the group of his 
more intelligent fellows-passengers, as if he found 
subjects of greater interest in their discourse, than 
. in the rude pleasantries and practical jokes of those 
nearer his person. 

The high-bred are always courteous, except in 
cases in which presumption repels civility ; for they 
who are accustomed to the privileges of station, 
think far less of their immunities, than they, who, 
by being excluded from the fancied advantages, 
are apt to exaggerate a superiority that a short 
experience w^ould show becomes of very questiona- 
G2 



78 THE HEADSMA\. 

ble value in the possession. Without this equitable 
provision of Providence, the law^s of civilized so- 
ciety would become truly intolerable, for, if peace 
of mind, pleasure, and what is usually termed 
happiness, were the exclusive enjoyment of those 
who are rich and honoured, there would, indeed, 
be so crying an injustice in their present ordinances 
as could not long withstand the united assaults of 
reason and justice. But, happily for the relief of 
the less gifted and the peace of the world, the fact 
is very different. Wealth has its pecuHar woes ; 
honors and privileges pall in the use ; and, per- 
haps, as a rule, there is less of that regulated con- 
tentment, which forms the nearest approach to the 
condition of the blessed of which this unquiet state 
of being is susceptible, among those who are 
usually the most envied by their fellow-creatures, 
than in any other of the numerous gradations into 
which the social scale has been divided. He w^ho 
reads our present legend with the eyes that w^e 
could wish, will find in its moral the illustration of 
this truth ; for, if it is our intention to dehneate 
some of the wrongs that spring from the abuses of 
the privileged and powerful, we hope equally to 
show how completely they fall short of their ob- 
ject, by failing to confer that exclusive happiness 
which is the goal that all struggle to attain. 

Neither the Baron de Willading, nor his noble 
friend, the Genoese, though educated in the opin- 
ions of their caste, and necessarily under the in- 
fluence of the prejudices of the age, was addicted 
to the insolence of vulgar pride. Their habits 
had revolted at the coarseness of the majority of 
the travellers, and they were glad to be rid of 
them by the expedient of Pippo; but no sooner 
did the modest, decent air of the stranger who re- 
mained, make itself apparent, than they felt a desire 
to compensate him for the privations he had already 



THE HEADSMAN. 79 

undergone, by showing the civihties that their 
own rank rendered so easy and usually so grate- 
ful. With this view, then, as soon as the noisy 
troupe had departed, the Signor Grimaldi raised 
his beaver with that discreet and imposing polite- 
ness which equally attracts and repels, and, ad- 
dressing the soHtary stranger, he invited him to 
descend, and stretch his legs on the part of the 
deck which had hitherto been considered exclu- 
sively devoted to the use of his own party. The 
other started, reddened, and looked like one who 
doubted whether he had heard aright. 

*' These noble gentlemen would be glad if you 
would come down, and take advantage of this 
opportunity to relieve your limbs ;" said the young 
Sigismund, raising his own athletic arm towards 
the stranger, to offer its assistance in helping him 
to reach the deck. 

Still the unknown traveller hesitated, in the 
manner of one who fears he might overstep dis- 
cretion, by obtruding beyond the limits imposed 
by modesty. He glanced furtively upwards at 
the place where Maso had posted himself, and 
muttered something of an intention to profit by its 
present nakedness. 

" It has an occupant who does not seem dis- 
posed to admit another," said Sigismund, smiling ; 
" your mariner has a self-possession when afloat, 
that usually gives him the same superiority that 
the well-armed swasher has among the timid in 
the street. You would do well, then, to accept 
the offer of the noble Genoese." 

The stranger, who had once or twice been 
called rather ostentatiously by Baptiste the Herr 
Miiller, during the day, as if the patron were dis- 
posed to let his hearers know that he had those 
who at least bore creditable names, even among 
his ordinary passengers, no longer delayed. He 



80 THE HEADSMAN. 

came down from his seat, and moved about the 
deck in his usual, quiet, subdued manner, but in a 
way to show that he found a very sensible and 
grateful relief in being permitted to make the 
change. Sigismund was rewarded for this act 
of good-nature by a smile from Adelheid, w^ho 
thought his warm interference in behalf of one, 
seemingly so much his inferior, did no discredit 
to his rank. It is possible that the youthful sol- 
dier had some secret sentiment of the advantage 
he derived from his kind interest in the stranger, 
for his brow flushed, and he looked more satisfied 
with himself, after this httle oflice of humanity 
had been perform.ed. 

" You are better among us here," the baron 
kindly observed, when the Herr Miiller was fairly 
established in his new situation, " than among the 
freight of the honest Nicklaus Wagner, who, 
Heaven help the worthy peasant ! has loaded us 
fairly to the water's edge, w ith the notable indus- 
try of his dairy people. I like to witness the 
prosperity of our burghers, but it would have 
been better for us travellers, at least, had there 
been less of the wealth of honest Nicklaus in our 
company. Are you of Berne, or of Zurich ?" 

*^ Of Berne, Herr Baron." 

" I might have guessed that by finding you on 
the Genfer See, instead of the Wallenstatter. 
There are many of the Miillers in the Emmen 
Thai?" 

" The Herr is right ; the name is frequent, both 
in that valley, and in Entlibuch." 
' " It is a frequent appellation r.mong us of the 
Teutonick stock. I had many Miillers in my 
company, Gaetano, when we lay before Mantua. 
I remember that two of the brave fellows were 
buried in the marshes of that low country; for 
the fever helped the enemy as much as the sword, 



THE HEADSMAN. 81 

in the life-wasting campaign of the year we be- 
sieged the place." 

The more observant Italian saw that the stranger 
was distressed by the personal nature of the con- 
versation, and, while he quietly assented to his 
friend's remark, he took occasion to give it a new 
direction. 

" You travel, like ourselves, Signore, to get a 
look at these far-famed revels of the Vevasians ?" 

" That, and affairs, have brought me into this 
honorable company;" answered the Herr Miiller, 
whom no kindness of tone, however, could win 
from his timid and subdued manner of speaking. 
" And thou, father," turning to the Augustine, 
"art journeying towards thy mountain residence, 
after a visit of love to the valleys and their 
people ?" 

The monk of St. Bernard assented to the truth 
of this remark, explaining the manner in which 
his community were accustomed annually to ap- 
peal to the liberality of the generous in Switzer- 
land, in behalf of an institution that was founded 
in the interest of humanity, without reference to 
distinction of faith. 

" 'Tis a blessed brotherhood," answered the 
Genoese, crossing himself, perhaps as much from 
habit as from devotion, " and the traveller need 
wash it well. I have never shared of your 
hospitality, but all report speaks fairly of it, and 
the title of a brother of San Bernardo, should 
prove a passport to the favor of every Christian." 

" Signore," said Maso, stopping suddenly, and 
taking his part uninvited in the discourse, and yet 
in a way to avoid the appearance of an imperti- 
nent interference, " none know this better than I ! 
A wanderer these many years, I have often seen 
the stony roof of the hospice with as much plea- 
sure as I have ever beheld the entrance of my 



82 THE HEADSMAN. 

haven, when an adverse gale was pressing 
against my canvass. Honor and a rich quete to 
the clavier of the convent, therefore, for jt is 
bringing succor to the poor and rest to the 
weary !" 

As he uttered this opinion, Maso decorously 
raised his cap, and pursued his straitened walk 
with the industry of a caged tiger. It was so un- 
usual for one of his condition to obtrude on the 
discourse of the fair and noble, that the party ex- 
changed looks of surprise ; but, the Signor Gri- 
maldi, more accustomed than most of his friends 
to the frank deportment and bold speech of mari- 
ners, from having dwelt long on the coast of the 
Mediterranean, felt disposed rather to humor than 
to repulse this disposition to talk. 

" Thou art a Genoese, by thy dialect," he said, 
assuming as a matter of course the right to ques- 
tion one of years so much fewer, and of a condi- 
tion so much inferior to his own. 

*' Signore," returned Maso, uncovering himself 
again, though his manner betrayed profound per- 
sonal respect rather than the deference of the vul- 
gar, " I was born in the city of palaces, though 
it was my fortune first to see the light beneath a 
humble roof. The poorest of us are proud of the 
splendor of Geneva la Superba, even if its glory 
has come from our own groans." 

The Signor Grimaldi frowned. But, ashamed 
to permit himself to be disturbed by an allusion so 
vague, and perhaps so unpremeditated, and more 
especially coming as it did from so insignificant a 
source, his brow regained its expression of ha- 
bitual composure. 

An instant of reflection, told him it would be 
in better taste to continue the conversation, than 
churlishly to cut it short for so light a cause. 

'' Thou art too young to have had much con- 



THE HEADSMAN. 83 

nexioR, either in advantage or in suffering,'' he 
rejoined, "with the erection of the gorgeous dwell- 
ings to which thou alludest." 

" This is true, Signore ; except as one is the 
better or worse for those who have gone before 
him. I am what I seem, more by the acts of 
others than by any faults of my ow^n. I envy not 
the rich or great, however ; for one that has seen 
as much of life as I, knows the difference between 
the gay colors of the garment, and that of the 
shrivelled and diseased skin it conceals. We make 
our feluccas glittering and fine wdth paint, when 
their timbers work the most, and w-hen the treach- 
erous planks are ready to let in the sea to drown 
us." 

" Thou hast the philosophy of it, young man, 
and hast uttered a biting truth, for those who w^aste 
their prime in chasing a phantom. Thou hast well 
bethought thee of these matters, for, if content 
with thy lot, no palace of our city would make 
thee happier." 

" If, Signore, is a meaning word ! — Content is 
like the north-star — we seamen steer for it, while 
none can ever reach it !" 

" Am I then deceived in thee, after all ? Is thy 
seeming moderation only affected; and would'st 
thou be the patron of the bark in which fortune 
hath made thee only a passenger?" 

" And a bad fortune it hath proved," returned 
Maso, laughing. " We appear fated to pass the 
night in it, for, so far from seeing any signs of 
this land-breeze of which Baptiste has so confi- 
dently spoken, the air seems to have gone to sleep 
as well as the crew. Thou art accustomed to this 
climate, reverend Augustine ; is it usual to see so 
deep a calm on the Leman at this late season ?" 

A question like this was well adapted to effect 
the speaker's wish to change the discourse, for it 



84 THE HEADSMAN. 

very naturally directed the attention of all present 
from a subject that was rather tolerated from idle- 
ness than interesting in itself, to the different natu- 
ral phenomena by which they were surrounded. 
The sun-set had now fairly passed, and the trav- 
ellers were at the witching moment that precedes 
the final disappearance of the day. A calm so 
deep rested on the limpid lake, that it was not easy 
to distinguish the Hne which separated the two 
elements, in those places where the blue of the 
land was confounded with the well-know^n and pe- 
culiar color of the Leman. 

The precise position of the Winkelried was near 
mid-way between the shores of Vaud and those 
of Savoy, though nearer to the first than to the 
last. Not another sail was visible on the whole 
of the watery expanse, with the exception of one 
that hung lazily from its yard, in a small bark that 
was pulling towards St. Gingoulph, bearing Sa- 
voyards returning to their homes from the other 
side of the lake, and which, in that delusive land- 
scape, appeared to the eye to be within a stone's- 
throw of the base of the mountain, though, in 
truth, still a weary row from the land. 

Nature has spread her work on a scale so mag- 
nificent in this subhme region that ocular decep- 
tions of this character abound, and it requires 
time and practice to judge of those measurements 
which have been rendered familiar in other scenes. 
In like manner to the bark under the rocks of Sa- 
voy, there lay another, a heavy-moulded boat, 
nearly in a line with Villeneuve, which seemed to 
float in the air instead of its proper element, and 
whose oars were seen to rise and fall beneath a 
high mound, that was rendered shapeless by re- 
fraction. This was a craft, bearing hay from the 
meadows at the mouth of the Rhone to their pro- 
prietors in the villages of the Swiss coast. A few 



THE HEADSMAN. 85 

light boats were pulling about in front of the town 
of Vevey, and a forest of low masts and latine 
yards, seen in the hundred picturesque attitudes 
peculiar to the rig, crowded the wild anchorage 
that is termed its port. 

An air-line drawn from St. Saphorin to Meil- 
lerie, would have passed between the spars of the 
Winkelried, her distance from her haven, conse- 
quently, a little exceeded a marine league. This 
space might readily have been conquered in an 
hour or two by means of the sweeps, but for the 
lumbered condition of the decks, which would have 
rendered their use difficult, and the unusual draught 
of the bark, which would have caused the exer- 
tion to be painful. As it has been seen, Baptiste 
preferred waiting for the arrival of the night- 
breeze to having recourse to an expedient so toil- 
some and slow. 

We have already said, that the point just de- 
scribed was at the place where the Leman fairly 
enters its eastern horn, and w^here its shores pos- 
sess their boldest and finest faces. On the side of 
Savoy, the coast was a sublime wall of rocks, 
here and there clothed with chestnuts, or indented 
with ravines and dark glens, and naked and wild 
along the whole line of their giddy summits. The 
villages so frequently mentioned, and which have 
become celebrated in these later times by the touch 
of genius, clung to the uneven declivities, their 
lower dwellings laved by the lake, and their upper 
confounded with the rugged faces of the moun- 
tains. Beyond the hmits of the Leman, the Alps 
shot up into still higher pinnacles, occasionally 
showing one of those naked excrescences of gra- 
nite, which rise for a thousand feet above the rest 
of the range — a trifle in the stupendous scale of 
the vast piles — and which, in the language of the 
country, are not inaptly termed Dents, from some 

Vol. I. H 



86 THE HEADSMAN. 

fancied and plausible resemblance to human teeth. 
The verdant meadows of Noville, Aigle and Bex, 
spread for leagues between these snow-capped 
barriers, so dwindled to the eye, however, that the 
spectator believed that to be a mere bottom, which 
was, in truth, a broad and fertile plain. Beyond 
these again, came the celebrated pass of St. Mau- 
rice, where the foaming Rhone dashed between 
two abutments of rock, as if anxious to effect its 
exit before the superincumbent mountains could 
come together, and shut it out for ever from the 
inviting basin to which it was hurrying with a 
never-ceasing din. Behind this gorge, so cele- 
brated as the key of the Valais, and even of the 
Alps in the time of the conquerors of the world, 
the back-ground took a character of holy mystery. 
The shades of evening lay thick in that enormous 
glen, which was sufficiently large to contain a 
sovereign state, and the dark piles of mountains 
beyond were seen in a hazy, confused array. The 
setting was a grey boundary of rocks, on which 
fleecy clouds rested, as if tired with their long and 
high flight, and on which the parting day still lin- 
gered soft and lucid. One cone of dazzhng w^hite 
towered over all. It resembled a bright stepping- 
stone between heaven and earth, the heat of the 
hot sun falling innocuously against its sides, like 
the cold and pure breast of a virgin repelHng those 
treacherous sentimenfs which prove the ruin of a 
shining and glorious innocence. Across the sum- 
mit of this brilhant and cloud-like peak, which 
formed the most distant object in the view, ran the 
imaginary line that divided Italy from the regions 
of the north. Drawing nearer, and holding its 
course on the opposite shore, the eye embraced the 
range of rampart-like rocks that beetle over Ville- 
neuve and Chillon, the latter a snow-white pile that 
seemed to rest partly on the land and partly on the 



THE HEADSMAN. 87 

water. On the vast debris of the mountains clus- 
tered the hamlets of Clarens, Montreux, Chatelard, 
and all those other places, since rendered so fa- 
miliar to the reader of fiction by the vivid pen of 
Rousseau. Above the latter village the whole of 
the savage and rocky range receded, leaving the 
lake-shore to vine-clad cotes that stretch away far 
to the west. 

This scene, at all times alluring and grand, was 
now beheld under its most favorable auspices. 
The glare of day had deserted all that belonged to 
what might be termed the lower world, leaving in 
its stead the mild hues, the pleasing shadows, and 
the varying tints of twilight. It is true that a hun- 
dred chalets dotted the Alps, or those mountain 
pasturages which spread themselves a thousand 
fathoms above the Leman, on the foundation of 
rock that lay like a wall behind Montreux, shining 
still with the brightness of a bland even, but all be- 
low was fast catching the more sombre colors of 
the hour. 

As the transition from day to night grew more 
palpable, the hamlets of Savoy became gray and 
hazy, the shades thickened around the bases of the 
mountains in a manner to render their forms indis- 
tinct and massive, and the milder glory of the 
scene was transferred to their summits. Seen by 
sun-light, these noble heights appear a long range 
of naked granite, piled on a foundation of chestnut- 
covered hills, and buttressed by a few such salient 
spurs as are perhaps necessary to give variety and 
agreeable shadows to their accHvities. Their out- 
lines were now drawn in those waving lines that 
the pencil of Raphael would have loved to sketch, 
dark, distinct, and appearing to be carved by art. 
The inflected and capricious edges of the rocks 
stood out in high relief against the back-ground of 
pearly sky, resembling so much ebony wrought 



88 THE HEADSMAN. 

into every fantastic curvature that a wild and vivid 
fancy could conceive. Of all the wonderful and 
imposing sights of this extraordinary region, there 
is perhaps none in which there is so exquisite an 
admixture of the noble, the beautiful, and the be- 
witching, as in this view of these natural arabesques 
of Savoy, seen at the solemn hour of twilight. 

The Baron de Willading and his friends stood 
uncovered, in reverence of the sublime picture, 
which could only come from the hands of the Crea- 
tor, and with unalloyed enjoyment of the bland 
tranquillity of the hour. Exclamations of pleasure 
had escaped them, as the exhibition advanced ; for 
the view, like the shifting of scenes, was in a con- 
stant state of transition under the waning and 
changing light, and each had eagerly pointed out 
to the others some peculiar charm of the view. 
The sight was, in sooth, of a nature to preclude 
selfishness, no one catching a glimpse that he did 
not wish to be shared by all. Vevey, their jour- 
ney, the fleeting minutes, and their disappointment, 
were all forgotten in the delight of witnessing this 
evening landscape, and the silence was broken on- 
ly to express those feelings of delight which had 
long been uppermost in every bosom. 

" I doff my beaver to thy Switzerland, friend 
Melchior," cried the Signor Grimaldi, after direct- 
ing the attention of Adelheid to one of the peaks of 
Savoy, of which he had just remarked that it 
seemed a spot where an angel might love to light 
in his visits to the earth ; " if thou hast much of 
this, we of Italy must look to it, or — by the shades 
of our fathers ! we shall lose our reputation for 
natural beauty. How is it young lady ; hast thou 
many of these sun-sets at Willading ? or, is this, 
after all, but an exception to what thou seest in 
common — as much a matter of astonishment to 



THE HEADSMAN. 89 

thyself, as — by San Francesco ! good Marcelli, we 
must even own, it is to thee and me !" 

Adelheid laughed at the old noble's good-humor- 
ed rhapsody, but, much as she loved her native 
land, she could not pervert the truth by pretending 
that the sight was one to be often met with. 

" If we have not this, however, we have our 
glaciers, our lakes, our cottages, our chalets, our 
Oberland, and such glens as have an eternal twi- 
light of their own." 

" Ay, my true-hearted and pretty Swiss, this 
is well for thee who wilt affirm that a drop of 
thy snow-water is worth a thousand Hmpid springs, 
or thou art not the true child of old Melchior de 
Willading ; but it is lost on the cooler head of one 
who has seen other lands. Father Xavier, thou 
art a neutral, for thy dwelling is on the dividing 
ridge between the two countries, and I appeal to 
thee to know if these Helvetians have much of this 
quahty of evening ?" 

The worthy monk met the question in the spirit 
with which it was asked, for the elasticity of the 
air, and the heavenly tranquillity and bewitching 
loveliness of the hour, w^ell disposed him to be 
joyous. 

" To maintain my character as an impartial 
judge," he answered, " I will say that each region 
has its own advantages. If Switzerland is the 
most wonderful and imposing, Italy is the most 
winning. The latter leaves more durable impres- 
sions and is more fondly cherished. One strikes 
the senses, but the other slowly winds its way into 
the affections ; and he who has freely vented his 
admiration in exclamations and epithets in one, 
will, in the end, want language to express all the 
■secret longings, the fond recollections, the deep 
repinings, that he retains for the other." 

*' Fairly reasoned, friend Melchior, and like an 
H2 



90 THE HEADSMAN. 

able umpire, leaving to each his share of conso- 
lation and vanity. Herr Miiller, dost thou agree 
in a decision that gives thy muchvaunted Sw^itzer- 
land so formidable a rival?" 

'* Signore," answered the meek traveller, "I see 
enough to admire and love in both, as is always 
the fact with that which God hath formed. This 
is a glorious world for the happy, and most might 
be so, could they summon courage to be innocent." 

" The good Auo^ustine will tell thee that this 
bears hard on certain points of theology, in which 
our common nature is treated with but indifierent 
respect. He that would continue innocent must 
struggle hard with his propensities." 

The stranger was thoughtful, and Sigismund, 
whose eye had been earnestly riveted on his face, 
thought that it denoted more of peace then usual. 

" Signore," rejoined the Herr Miiller, when time 
had been given for reflection, " I believe it is good 
for us to know unhappiness. He that is permitted 
too much of his own will gets to be headstrong, 
and, like the overfed bullock, difficult to be man- 
aged ; whereas, he who lives under the displeasure 
of his fellow-creatures is driven to look closely 
into himself, and comes, at last, to chasten his 
spirit by detecting its faults." 

*' Art thou a follower of Calvin ?" demanded the 
Augustine suddenly, surprised to hear opinions so 
healthful in the mouth of a dissenter from the true 
church. 

" Father, I belong neither to Rome nor to the 
religion of Geneva. I am a humble worshipper 
of God, and a believer in the blessed mediation of 
his holy Son." 

" How ! — Where dost thou find such sentiments 
out of the pale of the church ?" 

*'In mine own heart. This is my temple, holy 
Augustine, and I never enter it without adoration 



THE HEADSMAN. 91 

for its Almighty founder. A cloud was over the 
roof of my father at my birth, and I have not been 
permitted to mingle much with men; but the soli- 
tude of my life has driven me to study my own 
nature, which I hope has become none the worse 
for the examination. I know I am an unw^orthy 
and sinful man, and I hope others are as much 
better than I as their opinions of themselves would 
give reason to think." 

The words of the Herr Miiller, which lost none 
of their weight by his unaffected and quiet manner, 
excited curiosity. At first, most of the Hsteners 
were disposed to believe him one of those exag- 
gerated spirits who exalt themselves by a pretended 
self-abasement, but his natural, quiet, and thought- 
ful deportment soon produced a more favorable 
opinion. There w^as a habit of reflection, a retreat- 
ing inward look about his eye, that revealed the 
character of one long and truly accustomed to 
look more at himself than at others, and which 
wrought singularly in his behalf. 

" We may not all have these flattering opinions 
of ourselves that thy words would seem to imply, 
Signor Miiller," observed the Genoese, his tone 
changing to one better suited to soothe the feelings 
of the person addressed, while a shade insensibly 
stole over his own venerable features ; " neither 
are all at peace that so seem. If it will be any 
consolation to thee to know that others are probably 
no more happy than thyself, I will add that I have 
known much pain, and that, too, amid circum- 
stances which most would deem fortunate, and 
which, I fear, a great majority of mankind might 
be disposed to envy." 

" I should be base indeed to seek consolation in 
such a source ! I do not complain, Signore, though 
my whole life has so passed that I can hardly say 
that I enjoy it. It is not easy to smile when we 



92 THE HEADSMAN. 

know that all frown upon us ; else could I be con- 
tent. As it is, I rather feel than repine." 

" This is a most singular condition of the mind ;" 
whispered Adelheid to young Sigismund; for both 
had been deeply attentive listeners to the calm but 
strong language of the Herr Miiller. The young 
man did not answer, and his fair companion saw, 
with surprise, that he was pale, and with difficulty 
noticed her' remark with a smile. 

" The frowns of men, my son," observed the 
monk, "are usually reserved for those who offend 
its ordinances. The latter may not be always just, 
but there is a common sentiment which refuses to 
visit innocence, even in the narrow sense in which 
we understand the word, with undeserved dis- 
pleasure." 

The Herr Miiller looked earnestly at the Au- 
gustine, and he seemed about to answer; but, 
checking the impulse, he bowed in submission. At 
the same time, a wild, painful smile gleamed on 
his face. 

'• I agree with thee, good canon," rejoined the 
simple-minded baron : " we are much addicted to 
quarrelling with the world, but, after all, when we 
look closely into the matter, it will commonly be 
found that the cause of our grievances exists in 
ourselves." 

" Is there no Providence, father ?" exclaimed 
Adelheid, a little reproachfully for one of her re- 
spectful habi'ts and great filial tenderness. " Can 
we recall the dead to life, or keep those quick 
whom God is pleased to destroy ?" 

" Thou hast me, girl ! — there is a truth in this 
that no bereaved parent can deny !" 

This remark produced an embarrassed pause, 
during which the Herr Miiller gazed furtively 
about him, looking from the face of one to that of 
another, as if seeking for some countenance on 



THE HEADSMAN. 93 

which he could rely. But he turned away to the 
view of those hills which had been so curiously 
wrought by the finger of the Almighty, and seemed 
to lose himself in their contemplation. 

" This is some spirit that has been bruised by 
early indiscretion," said the Signor Grimaldi, in a 
low voice, " and whose repentance is strangely 
mixed with resignation. I know not whether such 
a man is most to be envied or pitied. There is a 
fearful mixture of resignation and of suffering in 
his air." 

" He has not the mien of a stabber or a knave," 
answered the baron. " If he comes truly of the 
Miillers of the Emmen Thai, or even of those of 
Entlibuch, I should know something of his history. 
They are warm burghers, and mostly of fair name. 
It is true, that in my youth one of the family got 
out of favor with the councils, on account of some 
concealment of their lawful claims in the way of 
revenue, but the man made an atonement that was 
deemed sufficient in amount, and the matter was 
forgotten. It is not usual, Herr Miiller, to meet 
citizens in our canton who go for neither' Rome 
nor Calvin." 

" It is not usual, mein Herr, to meet men placed 
as I am. Neither Rome nor Calvin is sufficient 
for me ; — I have need of God !" 

^' I fear thou hast taken fife ?" 

The stranger bowed, and his face grew livid, 
seemingly with the intensity of his own thoughts. 
Melchior de Willading so disliked the expression, 
that he turned away his eyes in uneasiness. The 
other glanced frequently at the forward part of the 
bark, and he seemed struggling hard to speak, but, 
for some strong reason, unable to effect his pur- 
pose. Uncovering himself, at length, he said 
steadily, as if superior to shame, while he fuliy felt 



94 THE HEADSMAN. 

the import of his communication, but in a voice 
that was cautiously suppressed — 

" I am Balthazar, of your canton, Herr Baron, 
and I pray your powerful succor, should those 
untamed spirits on the forecastle come to discover 
the truth. My blood hath been made to curdle 
to-day whilst hstening to their heartless threats 
and terrible maledictions. Without this fear, I 
should have kept my secret, — for God knows I am 
not proud of my office !" 

The general and sudden surprise, accompanied 
as it was by a common movement of aversion, 
induced the Signor Grimaldi to demand the reason. 

" Thy name is not in much favour apparently, 
Herr Miiller, or Herr Balthazar, whichever it is 
thy pleasure to be called," observed the Genoese, 
casting a quick glance around the circle. " There 
is some mystery in it, that to me needs explana- 
tion." 

" Signore, I am the headsman of Berne." 

Though long schooled in the polished habits of 
his high condition, which taught him ordinarily to 
repress strong emotions, the Signor Grimaldi could 
not conceal the start which this unexpected an- 
nouncement produced, for he had not escaped the 
usual prejudices of men. 

" Truly, we have been fortunate in our associate, 
Melchior," he said drily, turning without ceremo- 
ny from the man whose modest, quiet mien had 
lately interested him so much, but whose manner 
he now took to be assumed, — few pausing to in- 
vestigate the motives of those who are condemned 
of opinion : — " here has been much excellent and 
useful morality thrown away upon a very unworthy 
subject !" 

The baron received the intelligence of the real 
name of their travelling companion with less feel- 
ing. He had been greatly puzzled to account for 



THE HEADSMAN. 95 

the Singular language he had heard, and he found 
relief in so brief a solution of the difficulty. 

" The pretended name, after all, then, is only a 
cloak to conceal the truth ! I knew the Miillers of 
the Emmen Thai so well, that I had great difficulty 
in fitting the character which the honest man gave 
of himself fairly upon any one of them all. But it 
is now clear enough, and doubtless Balthazar has 
no great reason to be proud of the turn which For- 
tune has played his family in making them execu- 
tioners." 

" Is the office hereditary ?" demanded the 
Genoese, quickly. 

" It is. Thou knowest that we of Berne have 
great respect for ancient usages. He that is born 
to the Biirgerschaft will die in the exercise of his 
rights, and he that is born out of its venerable pale 
must be satisfied to live out of it, unless he has gold 
or favor. Our institutions are a hint from nature, 
which leaves men as they are created, preserving 
the order and harmony of society by venerable 
and well-defined laws, as is wise and necessary. 
In nature, he that is born strong remains strong, 
and he that has little force must be content with 
his feebleness.'* 

The Signor Grimaldi looked like one who felt 
contrition. 

" Art thou, in truth, an hereditary executioner?" 
he asked, addressing Balthazar himself. 

" Signore, I am : else would hand of mine have 
never taken life. 'Tis a hard duty to perform, 
even under the obligations and penalties of the 
law; — otherwise, it were accursed!" 

" Thy fathers deemed it a privilege !" 

"We suffer for their error: Signore, the f^ins of 
the fathers, in our case, have indeed been visited 
on the children to the latest generations." 

The countenance of the Genoese grew brighter, 



96 THE HEADSMAN. 

and his voice resumed the pohshed tones in which 
he usually spoke. 

" Here has been some injustice of a certainty," 
he said, " or one of thy appearance would not be 
found in this cruel position. Depend on our au- 
thority to protect thee, should the danger thou 
seemest to apprehend really occur. Still the laws 
must be respected, though not always of the rigid 
impartiality that we might wish. Thou hast own- 
ed the imperfection of human nature, and it is not 
wonderful that its work should have flaws." 

" I complain not now of the usage, which to me 
has become habit, but I dread the untamed fury of 
these ignorant and credulous men, who have taken 
a wild fancy that my presence might bring a curse 
upon the bark." 

There are accidental situations which contain 
more healthful morals than can be drawn from a 
thousand ingenious and plausible homilies, and in 
which facts, in their naked simplicity, are far more 
eloquent than any meaning that can be conveyed 
by words. Such was the case with this meek and 
unexpected appeal of Balthazar. All who heard 
him saw his situation under very different colors 
from those in which it would have been regarded 
had the subject presented itself under ordinary cir- 
cumstances. A common and painful sentiment at- 
tested strongly against the oppression that had giv- 
en birth to his wrongs, and the good Melchior de 
Willading himself wondered how a case of this 
striking injustice could have arisen under the laws 
of Berne. 



THE HEADSMAN. ©7 



CHAPTER VI. 

Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks, 
A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon ; 
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, 
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, 
All scattered in the bottom of the sea. 

Richard III. 

The flitting twilight was now on the wane, and 
the shades of evening were gathering fast over 
the deep basin of the lake. The figure of Maso, 
as he continued to pace his elevated platform, was 
drawn dark and distinct against the southern sky, 
in which "some of the last rays of the sun still lin- 
gered, but objects on both shores were getting to 
be confounded with the shapeless masses of the 
mountains. Here and there a pale star peeped 
out, though most of the vault that stretched across 
the confined horizon was shut in by dusky clouds. 
A streak of dull, unnatural light was seen in the 
quarter which lay above the meadows of the 
Rhone, and nearly in a direction with the peak of 
Mont Blanc, which, though not visible from this 
portion of the Leman, was known to lie behind the 
ramparts of Savoy, fike a monarch of the hills en- 
trenched in his citadel of rocks and ice. 

The change, the lateness of the hour, and the 
unpleasant reflections left by the short dialogue 
with Balthazar, produced a strong and common 
desire to see the end of a navigation that was be- 
ginning to be irksome. Those objects which had 
lately yielded so much and so pure a delight were 
now getting to be black and menacing, and the 
very sublimity of the scale on which Nature had 
here thrown together her elements was an addi- 

VOL. I. I 



98 THE HEADSMAjr. 

tional source of uncertainty and alarm. Those 
fairy-like, softly-delineated, natural arabesques, 
which had so lately been dwelt upon with rapture, 
were now converted into dreary crags that seem- 
ed to beetle above the helpless bark, giving un 
pleasant admonitions of the savage and inhospita 
bb properties of their iron-bound bases, which 
were known to prove destructive to all who were 
cast against them while the elements were in dis- 
order. 

These changes in the character of the scene, 
which in some respects began to take the aspect 
of omens, were uneasily witnessed by all in the 
stern of the bark, though the careless laughter, the 
rude joke, and the noisy cries, which from time to 
time arose on the forecastle, sufficiently showed 
that the careless spirits it held were still* indulging 
in the coarse enjoyments most suited to their hab- 
its. One individual, however, was seen steaHng 
from the crowd, and establishing himself on the 
pile of freight, as if he had a mind more addicted 
to reflection, and less disposed to unmeaning rev- 
elry, than most of those whom he had just aban- 
doned. This was the Westphalian student, who, 
wearied with amusements that were below the 
level of his acquirements, and suddenly struck 
with the imposing aspect of the lake and the moun- 
tains, had stolen apart to muse on his distant home 
and the beings most dear to him, under an excite- 
ment that suited those morbid sensibilities which 
he had long encouraged by a very subtle metaphys- 
ical system of philosophy. Until now, Maso 
had paced his lofty post with his eye fixed chiefly 
on the heavens in the direction of Mont Blanc, oc- 
casionally turning it, however, over the motionless 
bulk of the bark, but when the student placed him- 
self across his path, he stopped and smiled at the 



THE HEADSMAN. 99 

abstracted air and riveted regard with which the 
youth gazed at a star. 

" Art thou an astronomer, that thou lookest so 
closely at yonder shining world ?" demanded II 
Maledetto, with the superiority that the mariner 
afloat is wont successfully to assume over the un- 
happy wight of a landsman, who is very hable to 
admit his own impotency on the novel and dan- 
gerous element : — " the astrologer himself would 
not study it more deeply." 

" This is the hour agreed upon between me and 
one that I love to bring the unseen principle of our 
spirits together, by communing through its me- 
dium." 

" I have heard of sucli means of intercourse. 
Dost see more t'lan others by reason of such an 
assistant ?" 

" I see the object which is gazed upon, at this 
moment, by kind blue eyes that have often looked 
upon me in affection. When we are in a strange 
land, and in a fearful situation, such a communion 
has its pleasures !" 

Maso laid his hand upon the shoulder of the stu- 
dent, which he pressed with the force of a vice. 

" Thou art right," he said, moodily ; " make the 
most of thy friendships, and, if there are any 
that love thee, tighten the knot by all the means 
thou hast. None know the curse of being deserted 
in this selfish and cruel battle of interest better 
than I ! Be not ashamed of thy star, but gaze at 
it till thy eye-strings crack. See the bright eyes 
of l:ier that loves thee in its twinkling, her constancy 
in its lustre, and her melancholy in its sadness ; 
lose not the happy moments, for there will soon 
be a dark curtain to shut out its view." 

The Westphahan was struck with the singular 
energy as well as with the poetry of the mariner, 
and he distrusted the obvious allusion to the clouds, 



100 THE HEADSMAN. 

which were, in fact, fast covering the vault above 
their heads. 

" Dost thou Uke the night ?" he demanded, turn- 
ing from his star in doubt. 

" It might be fairer. This is a wild region, and 
your cold Swiss lakes sometimes become too hot 
for the stoutest seaman's heart. Gaze at thy star, 
young man, while thou mayest, and bethink thee 
of the maiden thou lovest and of all her kindness ; 
we are on a crazy water, and pleasant thoughts 
should not be lightly thrown away." 

Maso walked away, leaving the student alarmed, 
uneasy at he knew not what, and yet bent with 
childish eagerness on regarding the little luminary 
that occasionally was still seen wading among 
volumes of vapor. At this instant, a shout of 
unmeaning, clamorous merriment arose on the 
forecastle. 

II Maledetto did not remain any longer on the 
pile, but abandoning it to the new occupant, he 
descended among the silent, thoughtful party who 
were in possession of the cleared space near the 
stern. It was now so dark that some little at- 
tention was necessary to distinguish faces, even 
at trifling distances. But, by means of moving 
among these privileged persons with great cool- 
ness and seeming indiflference, he soon succeeded 
in placing himself near the Genoese and the Au- 
gustine. 

*' Signore," he said, in Itahan, raising his cap 
to the" former with the same marked respect as 
before, though it was evidently no easy matter to 
impress him with the deference that the obscure 
usually feel for the great — '' this is likely to prove 
an unfortunate end to a voyage that began with 
so fair appearances. I could wish that your ec- 
cellenza, with all this noble and fair company, was 
safely landed in the town of Vevey." 



THE HEADSMAN. 101 

" Dost thou mean that we have cause to fear 
more than delay ?' 

" Signore, the mariner's Hfe is one of unequal 
chances : now he floats in a lazy calm, and pres- 
ently he is tossed between heaven and earth, in a 
way to make the stoutest heart sick. My know- 
ledge of these waters is not great, but there are 
signs making themselves seen in the sky, here 
above the peak that lies in the direction of Mont 
Blanc, that would trouble me, were this our own 
blue but treacherous Mediterranean." 

" What thinkest thou of this, father ; a long 
residence in the Alps must have given thee some 
insight into their storms ?" 

The Augustine had been grave and thoughtful 
from the moment that he ceased to converse with 
Balthazar. He, too, had been struck with the 
omens, and, long used to study the changes of the 
weather, in a region where the elements sometimes 
work their will on a scale commensurate with the 
grandeur of the mountains, his thoughts had been 
anxiously recurring to the comforts and security 
of some of those hospitable roofs in the city to 
which they were bound, and which were always 
ready to receive the clavier of St. Bernard, in re- 
turn for the services and self-denial of his bro- 
therhood. 

" With Maso, I could wish we were safely land- 
ed," answered the good canon ; " the intense heat 
that a day like this creates in our valleys and on 
the lakes so weakens the sub-strata, or foundations 
of air, that the cold masses which collect around 
he glaciers sometimes descend like avalanches 
rom their heights, to fill the vacuum. The shock 
s fearful, even to those who meet it in the glens 
and among the rocks, but the plunge of such a 
column of air upon one of the lakes is certain to be 
terrible." 

I 2 



102 THE HEADSMAN. 

" And thou thinkest there is danger of one of 
these phenomena at present ?" 

*' I know not ; but I would we were housed ! 
That unnatural light above, and this deep tranquil- 
lity below, which surpasses an ordinary calm 
have already driven me to my aves." 

*' The reverend Augustine speaks like a book 
man, and one who has passed his time, up in his 
mountain-convent, in study and reflection," rejoin- 
ed Maso ; " whereas the reasons I have to offer 
savor more of the seaman's practice. A calm 
like this, will be followed, sooner or later, by a 
commotion in the atmosphere. I like not the ab- 
sence of the breeze from the land, on which Bap- 
tiste counted so surely, and, taking that symptom 
with the signs of yonder hot sky, I look soon to 
see this extraordinary quiet displaced by some vi- 
olent struggle among the winds. Nettuno, too, 
my faithful dog, has given notice, by the manner 
in which he snulls the air, that we are not to pass 
the night in this motionless condition." 

" I had hoped ere this to be quietly in our ha- 
ven. What means yonder bright light? Is it a 
star in the heavens, or does it merely lie against 
the side of the huge mountain?" 

" There shines old Roger de Blonay !" cried 
the baron, heartily ; " he knows of our being in 
the bark, and he has fired his beacon that we may 
steer by its light." 

The conjecture seemed probable, for, while the 
day remained, the castle of Blonay, seated on the 
bosom of the mountain that slielters Vevey to the 
north-east, had been plainly visible. It had been 
much admired, a pleasing object in a view that 
was so richly studded with hamlets and castles, 
and Adelheid had pointed it out to Sigismund as 
the immediate goal of her journey. The lord 
of Blonay being apprized of the intended visits 



THE HEADSMAN. 103 

nothing was more probable than that he, an old 
and tried friend of Melchior de Willading's, 
should show this sign of impatience ; partly in 
compliment to those whom he expected, and 
partly as a signal that might be really useful to 
those who navigated the Leman, in a night that 
threatened so much murky obscurity. 

The Signer Grimaldi rightly deemed the cir- 
cumstances grave, and, calling to him his friend 
and Sigismund, he communicated the apprehen- 
sions of the monk and* Maso. A braver man than 
Melchior de Willading did not dwell in all Switz- 
erland, but he did not hear the gloomy predictions 
of the Genoese without shaking in ev^ery limb. 

" My poor enfeebled Adelheid !" he said, yield- 
ing to a father's tenderness : " what will become 
of this frail plant, if exposed to a tempest in an 
unsheltered bark ?" 

** She will be with her father, and with her 
father's friend," answered the maiden herself; for 
the narrow limits to whfch they were necessarily 
confined, and the sudden burst of feeling in the 
parent, which had rendered him incautious in 
pitching his voice, made her the mistress of the 
cause of alarm. " I have heard enough of what 
the good Father Xavier and this mariner have 
said, to know that we are in a situation that might 
be better ; but am I not with tried friends ? I 
know already what the Herr Sigismund can do 
in behalf of my life, and come what may, we 
have all a beneficent guardian in One, who will 
not leave any of us to perish without remember- 
ing we are his children." 

" This girl shames us all," said the Signor Gri- 
maldi ; " but it is often thus with these fragile 
beings, who rise the firmest and noblest in mo- 
ments when prouder man begins to despair. They 
put their trust in God, who is a prop to sustain 



104 THE HEADSMAN. 

even those who are feebler than our geiitle Adel- 
heid. But we will not exaggerate the causes of 
apprehension, which, after all, may pass away 
like many other threatening dangers, and leave 
us hours of feUcitation and laughter in return for 
a few minutes of fright.'' 

" Say, rather of thanksgiving," observed the 
clavier, " for the aspect of the heavens is getting 
to be fearfully solemn. Thou, who art a mariner — 
hast thou nothing to suggesj; ?" 

** We have the simple expedient of our sweeps, 
father ; but, after neglecting their use so long, it 
is now too late to have recourse to them. We 
could not reach Vevey by such means, with this 
bark loaded to the water's edge, before the night 
would change, and, the water once fairly in mo- 
tion, they could not be used at all." 

" But we have our sails," put in the Genoese ; 
** they at least may do us good service w^hen the 
wind shall come." 

Maso shook his head, but he made no answer. 
After a brief pause, in wdiich he seemed to study 
the heavens still more closely, he went to the spot 
where the patron yet lay lost in sleep, and shook 
him rudely. — " Ho ! Baptiste ! awake ! there is 
need here of thy counsel and of thy commands." 

The drowsy ow^ner of the bark rubbed his eyes, 
and slowly regained the use of his faculties. 

" There is not a breath of w^ind," he muttered ; 
"why didst awake me, Maso? — One that hath 
led thy life should know that sleep is sweet to 
those w^ho toil." 

" Ay, 'tis their advantage over the pampered 
and idle.- Look at the heavens, man, and let us 
know what thou thinkest of their appearance. Is 
there the stuff in thy Winkelried to ride out a 
storm like this we may have to encounter ?" 

*' Thou talkest like a foolish quean that has been 



THE HEADSMAN. 105 

frightened by the fluttering of her own poultry. 
The lake was never more calm, or the bark in 
greater safety." 

'' Dost see yonder bright light ; here, over the 
tower of thy Vevey church ?" 

" Ay, 'tis a gallant star ! and a foir sign for the 
mariner." 

" Fool, 'tis a hot flame in Roger de Blonay's 
beacon. They begin to see that we are in dan- 
ger on the shore, and they cast out their signals 
to give us notice to be active. They think us be- 
stirring ourselves like stout men, and those used 
to the water, w^hile, in truth, we are as undis- 
turbed as if the bark were a rock that might 
laugh at the Leman and its waves. The man is 
benumbed," continued Maso, turning away to- 
wards the anxious hsteners ; " he will not see that 
which is getting to be but too plain to all the 
others in his vessel." 

Another idle and general laugh from the fore- 
castle came to contradict this opinion of Maso's, 
and to prove how easy it is for the ignorant to 
exist in security, even on the brink of destruction. 
This was the moment, when nature gave the flrst 
of those signals that were intelligible to vulgar 
capacities. The whole vault of the heavens was 
now veiled, with the exception of the spot so often 
named, which lay nearly above the brawhng 
torrents of the Rhone. This fiery opening re- 
sembled a window admitting of fearful glimpses 
into the dreadful preparations that were ma- 
king up among the higher peaks of the Alps. A 
flash of red quivering light was emitted, and 
a distant, rumbhng rush, that was not thunder 
but rather resembled the wheelings of a thousand 
squadrons into hne, followed the flash. The 
forecastle was deserted to a man, and the hillock 
of freight was again darkly seen peopled with 
crouching human forms. Just then the bark 



106 THE HEADSMAN. 

which had so long lain in a state of complete rest, 
slowly and heavily raised its bows, as if laboring 
under its great and unusual burthen, while a slug- 
gish swell passed beneath its entire length, lifting 
the whole mass, foot by foot, and passing away by 
the stern, to cast itself on the shores of Vaud. 

" 'Tis madness to waste the precious moments 
longer !" said Maso hurriedly, on whom this plain 
and intelligent hint was not lost. " Signori, we 
must be bold and prompt, or we shall be overta- 
ken by the tempest unprepared. I speak not for 
myself, smce, by the aid of this faithful dog, and 
favored by my own arms, I have always the shore 
for a hope. But there is one in the bark I would 
wish to save, even at some hazard to myself. Bap- 
tiste is unnerved by fear, and we must act for our- 
selves or perish !" 

'' What wouldest thou ?" demanded the Signer 
Grimaldi ; *• he that can proclaim the danger 
should have some expedient to divert it V 

'' More timely exertion would have given us the 
resource of ordinary means ; but, like those who 
die in their sins, we have foolishly wasted most 
precious minutes. We must lighten the bark, 
though it cost the whole of her freight." 

A cr}^ from Nicklaus Wagner announced that 
the spirit of avarice w^as still active as ever in his 
bosom. Even Baptiste, who had lost all his dog- 
matism and his disposition to command, under the 
imposing omens which had now made themselves 
apparent even to him, loudly joined in the protest 
against this w aste of property. It is rare that any 
sudden and extreme proposal, like this of Maso's, 
meets with a quick echo in the judgments of those 
to whom the necessity is unexpectedly presented. 
The danger did not seem sufficiently imminent to 
have recourse to an expedient so decided ; and, 
though startled and aroused, the untamed spirits 



THE HEADSMAN. 107 

of those who crowded the menaced pile were 
rather in a state of uneasiness, than of that fierce 
excitement to which they were so capable of be- 
ing wrought, and which was in some degree ne- 
cessary to induce even them, thriftless and desti 
tute as they w^ere, to be the agents of effecting so 
great a destruction of property. The project ot 
the cool and calculating Maso would therefore 
have failed entirely, but for another wheehng of 
those airy squadrons, and a second w^ave which 
lifted the groaning bark until the loosened yards 
swung creaking above their heads. The canvass 
flapped, too, in the darkness, like some huge bird 
of prey fluttering its feathers previously to taking 
wing. 

" Holy and just Ruler of ihe land and the sea !" 
exclaimed the Augustine, " remember thy repent- 
ant children, and have us, at this awful moment, 
in thy omnipotent protection !" 

" The winds are come down, and even the dumb 
lake sends us the signal to be ready !" shouted 
Maso. *' Overboard with the freight, if ye would 
live!" 

A sudden heavy plunge into the water, proved 
that the mariner was in earnest. Notwithstanding 
the imposing and awful signs with which they 
were surrounded, every individual of the nameless 
herd bethought him of the pack that contained his 
own scanty worldly effects, and there was a gen- 
eral and quick movement, with a view to secure 
them. As each man succeeded in effecting his 
own object, he was led away by that community 
of feeling which rules a multitude. The common 
rush was believed to be with a view to succor 
Maso, though each man secretly knew the falsity 
of the impression as respected his own particular 
case ; and box after box began to tumble into the 
water, as new and eager recruits lent themselves 



108 THE HEADSMAN-. 

to the task. The impulse was quickly imparted 
from one to another, until even young Sigismund 
was active in the work. On these slight accidents 
do the most important results depend, when the 
hot impulses that govern the mass obtain the as- 
cendant. 

It is not to be supposed that either Baptiste, or 
Nicklaus Wagner, witnessed the waste of their 
joint effects with total indifference. So far from 
this, each used every exertion in his power to pre- 
vent it, not only by his voice, but with his hands. 
One menaced the law — the other threatened Maso 
with condign punishment for his interference with 
a patron's rights and duties ; but their remon- 
strances were uttered to inattentive ears. Maso 
knew himself to be irresponsible by situation, for 
it was not an easy matter to bring him within the 
grasp of the authorities ; and as for the others, 
most of them were far too insignificant to feel 
much apprehension for a reparation that would be 
most likely, if it fell at all, to fall on those who 
were more able to bear it. Sigismund alone ex- 
erted himself under a sense of his liabilities ; but 
he worked for one that w^as far dearer to him than 
gold, and little did he bethink him of any other 
consequences than those which might befall the 
precious life of Adelheid de Willading. 

The meagre packages of the common passen- 
gers had been thrown in a place of safety, with 
the sort of unreflecting instinct with which we 
take care of our limbs when in danger. This 
timely precaution permitted each to work with a 
zeal that found no drawback in personal interest, 
and the effect was in proportion. A hundred hands 
were busy, and nearly as many throbbing hearts 
lent their impulses to the accomplishment of the 
one important object. 

Baptiste and his people, aided by laborers of the 



THE HEAD5MAX. 109 

port, had passed an entire day in heaping that pile 
on the deck of the Winkeh'ied, which was now 
crumbhng to pieces with a rapidity that seemed 
alUed to magic. The patron and Nicklaus Wag- 
ner bawled themselves hoarse, with uttering use- 
less threats and deprecations, for by this time the 
laborers in the work of destruction had received 
some such impetus as the rolling stone acquires by 
the increased momentum of its descent. Packages, 
boxes, bales, and everything that came to hand, 
were hurled into the w^ater frantically, and with- 
out other thought than of the necessity of light- 
ening the groaning bark of its burthen. The agi- 
tation of the lake, too, was regularly increasing, 
wave following wave, in a manner to cause the 
vessel to pitch heavily, as it rose upon the coming, 
or sunk with the receding swell. At length, a 
shout announced that, in one portion of the pile, 
the deck was attained ! 

The work now^ proceeded with greater security 
to those engaged, for,' hitherto the motion of the 
bark, and the unequal footing, frequently rendered 
their situations, in the darkness and confusion, to 
the last degree hazardous. Maso now abandoned 
his own active agency in the toil, for no sooner 
did he see the others fairly and zealously enhsted 
in the undertaking, than he ceased his personal ef- 
forts to give those directions which, coming from 
one accustomed to the occupation, were far more 
valuable than any service that could be derived 
from a single arm. 

" Thou art known to me, Signor Maso," said Bap- 
tiste, hoarse with his impotent efforts to restrain 
the torrent, " and thou shalt answer for this, as 
well as for other of thy crimes, so soon as we 
reach the haven of Vevey !" 

" Dotard ! thou would'st carry thyself and all 
with thee, by thy narrowness of spirit, to a port 

A^oL. I, * K 



110 THE HEADSMAN. 

from which, when it is once entered, none ever 
sail again." 

*' It lieth between ye both," rejoined Nicklaus 
Wagner ; " thou art not less to blame than these 
madmen, Baptiste. Hadst thou left the town at 
the hour named in our conditions, this danger could 
not have overtaken us." 

" Am I a god to command the winds ! I would 
that I had never seen thee or thy cheeses, or that 
thou wouldst relieve me of thy presence, and go 
after them into the lake." 

" This comes of sleeping on duty ; nay, I know 
not but that a proper use of the oars would still 
bring us in, in safety, and without necessary harm 
to the property of any. Noble Baron de Willa- 
ding, here may be occasion for your testimony, 
and, as a citizen of Berne, I pray you to heed well 
the circumstances." 

Baptiste was not in a humor to bear these mer- 
ited reproaches, and he rejoined upon the aggrieved 
Nicklaus in a manner that w^ould speedily have 
brought their ill-timed wrangle to an issue, had not 
Maso passed rudely between them, shoving them 
asunder wdth the sinews of a giant. This repulse 
served to keep the peace for the moment, but the 
wordy war continued with so much acrimony, and 
with so many unmeasured terms, that Adelheid 
and her maids, pale and terror-struck by the sur- 
rounding scene as they were, gladly shut their 
ears, to exclude epithets of such bitterness and 
menace that they curdled the blood. Maso passed 
on among the workmen, when he had interposed 
between the disputants. He gave his orders with 
perfect self-possession, though his understanding 
eye perceived that, instead of magnifying the dan- 
ger, he had himself not fully anticipated its extent. 
The rolhng of the waves was now incessant, and 
the quick, washing rush of the water, a sound fa- 



THE HEADSMAN. Ill 

miliar to the seaman, announced tiiat they had be- 
come so large that their summits broke, sending 
their lighter foam ahead. There were symptoms, 
too, which proved that their situation was under- 
stood by those on the land. Lights were flashing 
along the strand near Vevey, and it was not diffi- 
cult to detect, even at the distance at which they 
lay, the evidences of a strong feeling among the 
people of the town. 

" I doubt not that we have been seen," said 
Melchior de Willading, " and that our friends are 
busy in devising means to aid us. Roger de Blonay 
is not a man to see us perish without an eflbrt, nor 
would the w-orthy bailiff, Peter Hofmeister, be idle, 
knowing that a brother of the biirgerschaft, and 
an old school associate, hath need of his assist- 
ance." 

"None can come to us, without running an 
equal risk with ourselves," answered the Genoese. 
^' It were better that we should be left to our own 
exertions. I like the coolness of this unknown 
mariner, and I put my faith in God !" 

A new shout proclaimed that the deck had been 
gained, on the other side of the bark. Much the 
greater part of the deck-load had now^ irretrieva- 
bly disappeared, and the movements of the reheved 
vessel were m^ore lively and sane. Maso called to 
him one or two of the regular crew, and together 
they rolled up the canvass, in a manner peculiar 
to the latine rig ; for a breath of hot air, the first 
of any sort that had been felt for many hours, 
passed athwart the bark. This duty was perform- 
ed, as canvass is known to be furled at need, but 
it was done securely. Maso then went among the 
laborers again, encouraging them with his voice, 
and directing their efforts with his counsel. 

*' Thou art not equal to thy task," he said, ad- 
dressing one who vv-as vainly endeavoring to roll 



112 THE HEADSMAN. 

a bale to the side of the vessel, a little apart from 
the rest of the busy crowd ; " thou wilt do better 
to assist the others, than to waste thy force here." 

" I feel the strength to remove a mountain ! Do 
we not work for our lives ?" 

The mariner bent forward, and looked into the 
other's face. These frantic and ill-directed efforts 
came from the Westphalian student. 

" Thy star has disappeared," he rejoined, smi- 
ling — for Maso had smiled in scenes far more 
imposing, than even that with which he was now 
surrounded. 

" She gazes at it still ; she thinks of one that 
loves her, who is journeying far from the father- 
land." 

" Hold ! Since thou wilt have it so, I will help 
thee to cast this bale into the water. Place thine 
arm thus ; an ounce of well-directed force is worth 
a pound that acts against itself." 

Stooping together, their united strength did that 
which had baffled the single eflbrts of the scholar. 
The package rolled to the gangway, and the Ger- 
man, frenzied with excitement, shouted aloud ! The 
bark lurched, and the bale went over the side, as 
if the hfeless mass were suddenly possessed with 
the desire to perform the evolution which its inert 
weight had so long resisted. Maso recovered his 
footing, which had been deranged by the unex- 
pected movement, with a seaman's dexterity, but 
his companion was no longer at his side. Kneeling 
on the gangway, he perceived the dark bale disap- 
pearing in the element, with the feet of the West- 
phalian dragging after. He bent forward to grasp 
the rising body, but it never returned to the sur- 
face, being entangled in the cords, or, what was 
equally probable, retained by the frantic grasp of 
the student, whose mind had yielded to the awful 
character of the night. 



THE HEADSMAN*. 113 



The life of II Maledetto had been one of great 
vicissitudes and peril. He had often seen men pass 
suddenly into the other state of existence, and had 
been calm himself amid the cries, the groans, and, 
what is far more appalling, the execrations of the 
dying, but never before had he witnessed so brief 
and silent an end. For more than a minute, he 
hung suspended over the dark and working water, 
expecting to see the student return; and, when 
hope was reluctantly abandoned, he arose to his 
feet, a startled and admonished man. Still dis- 
cretion did not desert him. He saw the useless- 
ness, and even the danger, of distracting the atten- 
tion of the workmen, and the ill-fated scholar was 
permitted to pass away without a v/ord of regret 
or a comment on his fate. None knew of his loss 
but the wary mariner, nor was his person missed 
by any of those who had spent the day in his com- 
pany. But she to whom he had plighted his faith 
on the banks of the Elbe long gazed at tliat pale 
star, and wept in bitterness that her feminine con- 
stancy met with no return. Her true affections 
long outlived their object, for his image was deep- 
ly enshrined in a warm female heart. Days, 
weeks, months, and years passed for her in the 
v/asting cheerlessness of hope deferred, but the 
dark Leman never gave up its secret, and he to 
whom her lover's fate alone was known little be- 
thouo-ht him of an accident which, if not forgotten, 
was but one of many similar frightful incidents in 
his eventful career, 

Maso re-appeared among the crowd, with the 
forced composure of one wlio vrell knew that au- 
thority was most efficient when most calm. The 
comm'and of the vessel was now virtually with 
him, Baptiste, enervated by the extraordinary cri- 
sis, and choking with passion, being utterly mca- 
pable of giving a distinct or a useful order. It was 
K 2 



114 THE HEADSMAIV. 

fortunate for those in the bark that the substitute 
was so good, for more fearful signs never impend- 
ed over the Leman than those which darkened the 
hour. 

We have necessarily consumed much time in 
relating these events, the pen not equalling the ac- 
tivity of the thoughts. Twenty minutes, however, 
had not passed since the tranquillity of the lake 
was first disturbed, and so great had been the ex- 
ertions of those in the Winkelried, that the time 
appeared to be shorter. But, though it had been 
so well employed, neither had the powers of the 
air been idle. The unnatural opening in the hea- 
vens was shut, and, at short intervals, those fear- 
ful wheelings of the aerial squadrons were draw- 
ing nearer. Thrice had fitful breathings of warm 
air passed over the bark, and occasionally, as she 
plunged into a sea that was heavier than common, 
the faces of those on board were cooled, as it 
might be with some huge fan. These were no 
more, however, than sudden changes in the atmos- 
phere, of which veins were displaced by the dis- 
tant struggle between the heated air of the lake 
and that which had been chilled on the glaciers, 
or, they were the still more simple result of the 
violent agitation of the vessel. 

The deep darkness which shut in the vault, giv- 
ing to the embedded Leman the appearance of a 
gloomy, liquid glen, contributed to the awful sub- 
hmity of the night. The ramparts of Savoy were 
barely distinguishable from the flying clouds, hav- 
ing the appearance of black walls^, seemingly with- 
in reach of the hand ; while the more varied and 
softer cotes of Vaud lay an indefinable and som- 
bre mass, less menacing, it is true, but equallv 
confused and unattainable. 

Still the beacon blazed in the grate of old Roger 
de Blonay, and flaring torches glided along the 



THE HEADSMAN. 115 

strand. The shore seemed ahve with human be- 
ings, able as themselves to appreciate and to feel 
for their situation. 

The deck was now cleared, and the travellers 
were collected in a group between the masts 
Pippo had lost all his pleasantry under the dread 
signs of the hour, and Conrad, trembling with su- 
perstition and terror, was free from hypocrisy. 
They, and those with them, discoursed on their 
chances, on the nature of the risks they ran, and 
on its probable causes. 

" I see no image of Maria, nor even a piti- 
ful lamp to any of the blessed, in this accursed 
bark !" said the juggler, after several had hazard- 
ed their quaint and peculiar opinions. " Let the 
patron come forth, and answer for his negli- 
gence." 

The passengers were about equally divided be- 
tween those who dissented from and those who 
worshipped with Rome. This proposal, therefore, 
met with a mixed reception. The latter protested 
against the neglect, while the former, equally un- 
der the influence of abject fear, were loud in de- 
claring that the idolatry itself might cost them all 
their lives. 

" The curse of heaven alight on the evil tongue 
that first uttered the thought !'* muttered the trem- 
bhng Pippo between his teeth, too prudent to fly 
openly in the face of so strong an opposition, and 
yet too credulous not to feel the omission in every 
nerve — " Hast nothing by thee, pious Conrad, that 
may avail a Christian ?" 

The pilgrim reached forth his hand with a rosa- 
ry and cross. The sacred emblem passed from 
mouth to mouth, among the believers, with a zeal 
little short of that they had manifested in unload- 
ing the deck. Encouraged by this sacrifice, they 
called loudly upOn Baptiste to present himself. 



116 TMfi MfiADSMA.V. 

Confronted with these unnurtured spirits, the pa- 
tron shook in every hmb, for, between anger and 
abject fear, his self-command had by this time ab- 
solutely deserted him. To the repeated appeals to 
procure a light, that it might be placed before a 
picture of the mother of God which Conrad pro- 
duced, he objected his Protestant faith, the im- 
possibility of maintaining the flame while the bark 
pitched so violently, and the divided opinions of 
the passengers. The Catholics bethought them of 
the country and influence of Maso, and they loud- 
ly called upon him, for the love of God ! to come 
and enforce their requests. But the mariner was 
occupied on the forecastle, lowering one anchor 
after another into the water, passively assisted by 
the people of the bark, who wondered at a precau- 
tion so useless, since no rope could reach the bot- 
tom, even while they did not dare deny his orders. 
Something was now said of the curse that had 
alighted on the vessel, in consequence of its pa- 
tron's intention to embark the headsman. Bap- 
tiste trembled to the skin of his crown, and his 
blood crept with a superstitious awe. 

" Dost think there can really be aught in this !'' 
he asked, with parched lips and a faltering 
tongue. 

All distinction of f\iith was lost in the general 
ridicule. Now the Wcstphalian was gone, there 
was not a man among them to doubt that a navi- 
gation, so accompanied, v»ould be cursed. Bap- 
tiste stammered, muttered many incoherent sen- 
tences, and finally, in his impotency, he permitted 
the dangerous secret to escape him. 

The intelligence that Balthazar was among them 
produced a solemn and deep silence. The fact, 
however, furnished as conclusive evidence of the 
cause of their peril to the minds of these untutored 
oeings, as a mathematician could have received 



THE HEADSMAiV. 117 

from the happiest of his demonstrations. New 
hght broke in upon them, and the ominous stillness 
was followed by a general demand for the patron 
to point out the man. Obeying this order, partly 
under the influence of a terror that was allied to 
his moral weakness, and partly in bodily fear, he 
shoved the headsman forward, substituting the per- 
son of the proscribed man for his own, and, profit- 
ing by the occasion, he stole out of the crowd. 

When the Herr Miiller, or as he was now 
known and called, Balthazar, was rudely pushed 
into the hands of these ferocious agents of super- 
stition, the apparent magnitude of the discovery 
induced a general and breathless pause. Like the 
treacherous calm that had so long reigned upon 
the lake, it was a precursor of a fearful and vio- 
lent explosion. Little was said, for the occasion 
was too ominous for a display of vulgar feeling, but 
Conrad, Pippo, and one or two more, silently rais- 
ed the fancied offender in their arms, and bore 
him desperately towards the side of the bark. 

"Call on Maria, for the good of thy soul!" 
whispered the Neapolitan, with a strange mixture 
of Christian zeal, in the midst of all his ferocity. 

The sound of words like these usually conveys 
the idea of charity and love, but, notwithstanding 
this gleam of hope, Balthazar still found himself 
borne towards his fate. 

On quitting the throng that clustered together in 
a dense body between the masts, Baptiste encoun- 
tered his old antagonist, Nicklaus Wagner. The 
fury which had so long been pent in his breast sud- 
denly found vent, and, in the madness of the mo- 
ment, he struck him. The stout Bernese grappled 
his assailant, and the struggle became fierce as 
that of brutes. Scandalized by such a spectacle, 
offended by the disrespect, and ignorant of what 
else was passing near — for the crowd had uttered 



118 THE HEADSMAX. 

its resolutions in the suppressed voices of men de- 
termined — the Baron de Willading and the Signor 
Grimaldi advanced with dignity and firmness to 
prevent the shameful strife. At this critical mo- 
ment the voice of Balthazar was heard above the 
roar of the coming wind, not calling on Maria, as 
he had been admonished, but appealing to the two 
old nobles to save him. Sigismund sprang for- 
ward like a lion, at the cry, but too late to reach 
those who were about to cast the headsman from 
the gangway, he was just in time to catch the body, 
by its garments, when actually sailing in the air. 
By a vast effort of strength its direction was di- 
verted. Instead of alighting in the water, Baltha- 
zar encountered the angry combatants, who, driv- 
en back on the two nobles, forced the whole four 
over the side of the bark into the water. 

The struggle between the two bodies of air 
ceased, that on the surface of the lake yielding 
to the avalanche from above, and the tempest came 
howling upon the bark. 



CHAPTER VIJ. 

and now tlie glee 

Of the loud hills shakes with their mountain-mirth. 

Byron. 

It is necessary to recapitulate a little, in order 
to connect events. The signs of the hour had 
been gradually but progressively increasing. While 
the lake was unruffled, a stillness so profound pre- 
vailed, that sounds from the distant port, such as 
the heavy fall of an oar, or a laugh from the wa- 
terman, had reached the ears of those in the Win- 



THE HEADSMAN. 119 

kelriedj bringing with them the feeling of security, 
and the strong charm of a calm at even. To 
these succeeded the gathering in the heavens, and 
the roaring of the winds, as they came rushing 
down the sides of the Alps, in their first descent 
into the basin of the Leman. As the sight grew 
useless, except as it might study the dark omens 
of the impending vauh, the sense of hearing be- 
came doubly acute, and it had been a powerful 
agent in heightening the vague but acute appre- 
hensions of the travellers. The rushes of the 
wind, which at first were broken, at intervals re- 
sembling the roar of a chimney-top in a gale, had 
soon reached the fearful grandeur of those aerial 
wheelings of squadrons, to which we have more 
than once alluded, passing ofl^* in dread mutterings, 
that, in the deep quiet of all other things, bore a 
close affinity to the rumbling of a surf upon the 
sea-shore. The surface of the lake was first bro- 
ken after one of these symptoms, and it was this 
infallible sign of a gale which had assured Maso 
there was no time to lose. This movement of the 
element in a calm is a common phenomenon on 
waters that are much environed with elevated and 
irregular head-lands, and it is a certain proof that 
wind is on some distant portion of the sheet. It 
occurs frequently on the ocean, too, where the 
mariner is accustomed to find a heavy sea setting 
in one direction, the effects of some distant storm, 
while the breeze around him is blowing in its op- 
posite. It had been succeeded by the single roll- 
ing swell, like the outer circle of waves produced 
by dropping a stone into the water, and the regu- 
lar and increasing agitation of the lake, until the 
element broke as in a tempest, and that seemingly 
of its own volition, since not a breath of air was 
stirring. This last and formidable symptom of 
the force of the coming gust, however, had now 



120 THE HEADSMAN. 

become so unequivocal, that, at the moment when 
the three travellers and the patron fell from her 
gangway, the Winkelried, to use a seaman's 
phrase, was literally wallowing in the troughs of 
the seas. 

A dull unnatural light preceded the winds, and 
notwithstanding the previous darkness, the nature 
of the accident was fully apparent to all. Even 
the untamed spirits that had just been bent upon 
so fierce a sacrifice to their superstitious dread, 
uttered cries of horror, while the piercing shriek 
of Adelheid sounded, in that fearful moment, as 
if beings of super-human attributes were riding in 
the gale. The name of Sigismund was heard, 
too, in one of those wild appeals that the frantic 
suffer to escape them, in their despair. But the 
interval between the plunge into the water and the 
swoop of the tempest was so short, that, to the 
senses of the travellers, the whole seemed the oc- 
currence of the same teeming moment. 

Maso had completed his work on the forecastle, 
had seen that other provisions which he had or- 
dered were duly made, and had reached the tiller, 
just in time to witness and to understand all that 
occurred. Adelheid and her female attendants 
were already lashed to the principal masts, and 
ropes were given to the others around her, as in- 
dispensable precautions ; for the deck of the bark, 
now cleared of every particle of its freight, was 
as exposed and as defenceless against the power 
of the wind, as a naked heath. Such was the sit- 
uation of the Winkelried, when the omens of the 
night changed to their dread reality. 

Instinct, in cases of sudden and unusual danger 
must do the office of reason. There was no ne- 
cessity to warn the unthinking but panic-struck 
crowd to provide for their own safety, for every 
man in the centre of the barge threw his body flat 



THE HEADSMAN. 121 

on the deck, and grasped the cords that Maso had 
taken care to provide for that purpose, with the 
tenacity with which all who possess life cling to 
the means of existence. The dogs gave beautiful 
proofs of the secret and wonderful means that na- 
ture has imparted, to answer the ends of their 
creation. Old Uberto crouched, cowering, and 
oppressed with a sense of helplessness, at the side 
of his master, while the Newfoundland follower of 
the mariner went leaping from gangway to gang- 
way, snuffing the heated air, and barking wildly, 
as if he would challenge the elements to close for 
the strife. 

A vast body of warm air had passed unheeded 
athwart the bark, during the minute that preceded 
the intended sacrifice of Balthazar. It was the 
forerunner of the hurricane, which had chased it 
from the bed where it had been sleeping, since the 
warm and happy noon-tide. Ten thousand char- 
iots at their speed could not have equalled the 
rumbling that succeeded, when the winds came 
booming over the lake. As if too eager to permit 
anything within their fangs to escape, they brought 
with them a wild, dull light, which filled while it 
clouded the atmosphere, and which, it was scarce- 
ly fanciful to imagine, had been hurried down, in 
their vortex, from those chill glaciers, where they 
had so long been condensing their forces for the 
present descent. The waves were not increased, 
but depressed by the pressure of this atmospheric 
column, though it took up hogshead, of water from 
their crests, scattering it in fine penetrating spray, 
till the entire space between the heavens and the 
earth seemed saturated with its particles. 

The Winkelried received the shock at a moment 
when the lee-side of her broad deck was wallow- 
ing in the trough, and its weather was protruded 
on the summit of a swell. The wind howled. 

Vol. I. L 



122 THE HEADSMAN. 

when it struck the pent limits, as if angered at being 
thwarted, and there was a roar under the wide 
gangways, resembling that of lions. The reeling 
vessel was raised in a manner to cause those or. 
board to believe it about to be lifted bodily from 
the water, but the ceaseless rolhng of the element 
restored the balance. Maso afterwards affirmed 
that nothing but this accidental position, which 
formed a sort of lee, prevented all in the bark from 
being swept from the deck, before the first gust of 
the hurricane. 

Sigismund had heard the heart-rending appeal 
of Adelheid, and, notwithstanding the awful strife 
of the elements and the fearful character of the 
night, he alone breasted the shock on his feet. 
Though aided by a rope, and bowed like a reed, 
his herculean frame trembled under the shock, in a 
way to render even his ability to resist seriously 
doubtful. But, the first blast expended, he sprang 
to the gangway, and leaped into the cauldron of 
the lake unhesitatingly, and yet in the possession 
of all his faculties. He was desperately bent on 
saving a life so dear to Adelheid, or on dying in 
the attempt. 

Maso had watched the crisis with a seaman's 
eye, a seaman's resources, and a seaman's cool- 
ness. He had not refused to quit his feet, but 
kneeling on one knee, he pressed the tiller down, 
lashed it, and clinging to the massive timber, faced 
the tempest with the steadiness of a water-god. 
There was subHmity in the intelligence, delibera- 
tion, and calculating skill, with which this solitary, 
unknown, and nearly hopeless, mariner obeyed his 
professional instinct, in that fearful concussion of 
the elements, which, loosened from every restraint, 
now appeared abandoned to their own wild and 
fierce will. He threw aside his cap, pushed for- 
ward his thick but streaming locks, as veils to pro-~ 



THE HEADSMAiV. 123 

tect his eyes, and watched the first encounter of 
the wind, as the wary but sullen lion keeps his gaze 
on the hostile elephant. A grim smile stole across 
his features, when he felt the vessel settle again 
into its watery bed, after that breathless moment 
in which there had been reason to fear it might 
actually be lifted from its proper element. Then 
the precaution, which had seemed so useless and 
incomprehensible to others, came in play. The 
bark made a fearful whirl from the spot where it 
had so long lain, yielding to the touch of the gust 
like a vane turning on its pivot, while the water 
gurgled several streaks on deck. But the cables 
were no sooner taut than the numerous anchors 
resisted, and brought the bark head to wind. Maso 
felt the yielding of the vessel's stern, as she swung 
furiously round, and he cheered aloud. The 
trembling of the timbers, the dashing against the 
pointed beak, and that high jet of water, which shot 
up over the bows and fell heavily on the forecas- 
tle, washing aft in a flood, were so many eviden- 
ces that the cables were true. Advancing from 
his post, with some such dignity as a master of 
fence displays in the exercise of his art, he shout- 
ed for his dog. 

" Nettuno ! — Nettuno ! — where art thou, brave 
Nettuno ?" 

The faithful animal was whining near him, un- 
heard in that war ot the elements. He waited only 
for this encouragement to act. No sooner was 
his master's voice heard, than, barking bravely, he 
snuffed the gale, dashed to the side of the vessel, 
and leaped into the boiling lake. 

When Melchior de Willading and his friend re- 
turned to the surface, after their plunge, it was 
like men making their appearance in a world aban- 
doned to the infernal humors of the fiends of dark- 
ness. The reader will understand it was at the 



124 THE HEADSMAN. 

instant of the swoop of the winds, that has just 
been detailed, for what we have taken so many 
pages to describe in words, scarce needed a min- 
ute of time in the accompUshment. 

Maso knelt on the verge of the gangway, sus- 
taining himself by passing an arm around a shroud, 
and, bending forward, he gazed into the cauldron 
of the lake with aching eyes. Once or twice, he 
thought he heard the stifled breathing of one who 
struggled with the raging water ; but, in that roar 
of the winds, it was easy to be deceived. He 
shouted encouragement to his dog, however, and 
gathering a small rope rapidly, he made a heaving 
coil of one of its ends. This he cast far from him, 
with a peculiar swing and dexterity, hauhng-in, 
and repeating the experiments, steadily and with 
unwearied industry. The rope was necessarily 
thrown at hazard, for the misty light prevented 
more than it aided vision ; and the howling of the 
powers of the air filled his ears with sounds that 
resembled the laugh of devils. 

In the cultivation of the youthful manly exer- 
cises, neither of the old nobles had neglected the 
useful skill of being able to buffet with the waves. 
But both possessed what was far better, in such 
a strait, than the knowledge of a swimmer, in that 
self-command and coolness in emergencies which 
they are apt to acquire, who nass their time in en- 
countering the hazards and in overcoming the 
difliculties of war. Each retained a sufliciency 
of recollection, therefore, on coming to the surface, 
to understand his situation, and not to increase the 
danger by the ill-directed and frantic efforts that 
usually drown the frightened. The case was suf- 
ficiently desperate, at the best, without the addi- 
tional risk of distraction, for the bark had already 
drifted to some unseen spot, that, as respects them, 
was quite unattainable. In this uncertainty, it 



THE HEADSMAN. 126 

would have been madness to steer amid the waste 
of waters, as Ukely to go wrong as right, and they 
hmited their efforts to mutual support and en- 
couragement, placing their trust in God. 

Not so with Sigismund. To him the roaring 
tempest was mute, the boiling and hissing lake had 
no horrors, and he had plunged into the fathomless 
Leman as recklessly as he could have leaped to 
land. The shriek, the " Sigismund ! oh, Sigis- 
mund !" of Adelheid, was in his ears, and her cry 
of anguish thrilled on every nerve. The athletic 
young Swiss was a practised and expert swimmer, 
or it is improbable that even these strong impulses 
could have overcome the instinct of self-preser- 
vation. In a tranquil basin, it would have been 
no extraordinary or unusual feat for him to con- 
quer the distance between the Winkelried and the 
shores of Vaud ; but, like ail the others, on casting 
himself into the water, he was obliged to shape 
his course at random, and this, too, amid such a 
driving spray as rendered even respiration difficult. 
As has been said, the waves were compressed into 
their bed rather than augmented by the wind ; but, 
had it been otherwise, the mere heaving and set- 
tling of the element, while it obstructs his speed, 
offers a support rather than an obstacle to the 
practised swimmer. 

Notwithstanding all these advantages, the 
strength of his impulses, and the numberless oc- 
casions on which he had breasted the surges of the 
Mediterranean, Sigismund, on recovering from his 
plunge, felt the fearful chances of the risk he ran, 
as the stern soldier meets the hazards of battle, in 
which he knows if there is victory there is also 
death. He dashed the troubled water aside, though 
he swam blindly, and each stroke urged him farther 
from the bark, his only hope of safety. He was 
between dark rolling mounds, and, on rising to 
L2 



1^6 THE HEADSMAN. 

their summits, a hurricane of mist made him glad 
to sink again within a similar shelter. The break- 
ing crests of the waves, which were glancing off" 
in foam, also gave him great annoyance, for such 
was their force, that, more than once, he was hurl- 
ed helpless as a log before them. Still he swam 
boldly, and with strength; nature having gifted 
him with more than the usual physical energy of 
man. But, uncertain in his course, unable to see 
the length of his own body, and pressed hard upon 
by the wind, even the spirit of Sigismund Stein- 
bach could not long withstand so many adverse 
circumstances. He had already turned, wavering 
in purpose, thinking to catch a glimpse of the bark 
in the direction he had come, when a dark mass 
floated immediately before his eyes, and he felt 
the cold clammy nose of the dog, scenting about 
his face. The admirable instinct, or we might 
better say, the excellent training of Nettuno, told 
him that his services were not needed here, and, 
barking with wild delight, as if in mockery of the 
infernal din of the tempest, he sheered aside, and 
swam swiftly on. A thought flashed like lightning 
on the brain of Sigismund. His best hope was in 
the inexplicable faculties of this animal. Throwing 
forward an arm, he seized the bushy tail of the 
dog, and suffered himself to be dragged ahead, he 
knew not whither, though he seconded the move- 
ment with his own exertions. Another bark pro- 
claimed that the experiment was successful, and 
voices, rising as it were from the water, close at 
hand, announced the proximity of human beings. 
The brunt of the hurricane was past, and the 
washing of the waves, which had been stilled by 
the roar and the revelry of the winds, again be- 
came audible. 

The strength of the two strugcrling old men was 
sinking fast. The Signor Grimaldi had, thus far, 



THE HEADSMAN. 127 

generously sustained his friend, who was less ex- 
pert than himself in the water, and he continued 
to cheer him with a hope he did not feel himself, 
nobly refusing to the last to separate their fortunes. 

" How dost find thyself, old Melchior ?" he ask- 
ed. " Cheer thee, friend — I think there is suc- 
cor at hand." 

The water gurgled at the mouth of the baron, 
who was near the gasp. 

" 'Tis late — bless thee, dearest Gaetano — God 
be with my child — my Adelheid — poor Adeiheid !" 

The utterance of this precious name, under a 
father's agony of spirit, most probably saved his 
life. The sinewy arm of Sigismund, directed by 
the words, grasped his dress, and he felt at once 
that a new and preserving power had interposed 
between him and the caverns of the lake. It was 
time, for the water had covered the face of the 
failing baron, ere the muscular arm of the youth 
came to perform its charitable office. 

"Yield thee to the dog, Signore," said Sigis- 
mund, clearing his mouth of water to speak calm- 
ly, once assured of his ow^n burthen; "trust to his 
sagacity, and, — God keep us in mind ! — all may 
yet be well !" 

The Signor Grimaldi retained sufficient presence 
of mind to follow this advice, and it was probably 
quite as fortunate that his friend had so far lost his 
consciousness, as to become an unresisting burthen 
in the hands of Sigismund. 

"Nettuno ! — gallant Nettuno !" — swept past them 
on the gale for the first time, the partial hushing of 
the winds permitting the clear call of Maso to reach 
so far. The sound directed the efforts of Sigis- 
mund, though the dog had swum steadily away 
the moment he had the Genoese in his gripe, and 
with a certainty of manner that showed he was at 
no loss for a direction. 



128 THE HEADSMAiV. 

But Sigismund had taxed his powers too far. 
He, who could have buffeted an ordinary sea for 
hours, was now completely exhausted by the un- 
wonted exertions, the deadening influence of the 
tempest, and the log-like weight of his burthen 
He would not desert the father of Adelheid, and 
yet each fainting and useless stroke told him to 
despair. The dog had already disappeared in the 
darkness, and he was even uncertain again of the 
true position of the bark. He prayed i;i agony for 
a single glimpse of the rocking masts and yards, 
or to catch one syllable of the cheering voice of 
Maso. But in both his wishes were vain. In place 
of the former, he had naught but the veiled misty 
hght, that had come on with the hurricane ; and, 
instead of the latter, his ears were filled with the 
washing of the waves and the roars of the gusts. 
The blasts now descended to the surface of the 
lake, and now went whirling and swelling upward, 
in a way to lead the listener to fancy that the 
viewless winds might, for once, be seen. For a 
single painful instant, in one of those dishearten- 
ing moments of despair that will come over the 
stoutest, his hand was about to rehnquish its hold 
of the baron, and to make the last natural struggle 
for life ; but that fair and modest picture of maiden 
lov^cliness and truth, which had so long haunted his 
waking hours and adorned his night-dreams, inter- 
posed to prevent the act. After this brief and 
fleeting weakness, the young man seemed endowed 
with new energy. He swam stronger, and with 
greater apparent advantage, than before. 

" Nettuno — gallant Nettuno !" — again drove over 
him, bringing with it the chilling certainty, that, 
turned from his course by the rolling of the water, 
he had thrown away these desperate efforts, by 
taking a direction which led him from the bark. 
While there was the smallest appearance of success, 



THE HEADSMAN. 129 

no difficulties, of whatever magnitude, could entire- 
ly extinguish hope; but when the dire conviction 
that he had been actually aiding, instead of dimin- 
ishing, the danger, pressed upon Sigismund, he 
abandoned his efforts. The most he endeavored 
or hoped to achieve, w^as to keep his own head and 
that of his companion above the fatal element, 
while he answered the cry of Maso with a shout 
of despair. 

" Nettuno ! — gallant Nettuno !" — again flew past 
on the gale. 

This cry might have been an answer, or it might 
merely be the Italian encouraging his dog to bear 
on the body, with which it was already loaded. 
Sigismund uttered a shout, which he felt must be 
the last. He struggled desperately, but in vain : 
the world and its allurements were vanishing from 
his thoughts, when a dark line whirled over him, 
and fell thrashing upon the very wave which cov- 
ered his face. An instinctive grasp caught it, and 
the young soldier felt himself impelled ahead. He 
had seized the rope which the mariner had not ceas- 
ed to throw, as the fisherman casts his line, and he 
was at the side of the bark, before his confused 
faculties enabled him to understand the means 
employed for his rescue. 

Maso took a hasty turn with the rope, and, stoop- 
ing forward, favored by a roll of the vessel, he 
drew the Baron de Willading upon deck. Watch- 
ing his time, he repeated the experiment, always with 
admirable coolness and dexterity, placing Sigis- 
mund also in safety. The former was immediate- 
ly* dragged senseless to the centre of the bark, 
where he received those attentions that had just 
been eagerly offered to the Signior Grimaldi, and 
with the same happy results. But Sigismund 
motioned all away from himself, knowing that 
their cares were needed elsewhere. He staggered 



130 THE HEADSMAN. 

forward a few paces, and then, yielding to a com- 
plete exhaustion of his power, he fell at full length 
on the wet planks. He long lay panting, speech- 
less, and unable to move, with a sense of death on 
his frame. 

"Nettuno! gallant, gallant Nettuno !" — shouted 
. the indefatigable Maso, still at his post on the gang- 
way, whence he cast his rope with unchanging 
perseverance. The fitful winds, which had already 
played so many fierce antics that eventful night, 
sensibly lulled, and, giving one or two sighs, as if 
regretting that they were about to be curbed again 
by that almighty Master, from whose benevolent 
hands they had so furtively escaped, as suddenly 
ceased blowing. The yards creaked, swinging 
loosely above the crowded deck, and the dull wash- 
ing of water filled the ear. To these diminished 
sounds were to be added the barking of the dog, 
who was still abroad in the darkness, and a strug- 
gling noise like the broken and smothered attempts 
of human voices. Although the time appeared an 
age to all who awaited the result, scarcely five 
minutes had elapsed since the accident occurred 
and the hurricane had reached them. There was 
still hope, therefore, for those who yet remained 
in the water. Maso felt the eagerness of one who 
had already been successful beyond his hopes, and, 
in his desire to catch some guiding signal, he leaned 
forward, till the rolling lake washed into his face. 

" Ha ! gallant — gallant Nettuno !" 

Men certainly spoke, and that near him. But 
the sounds resembled words uttered beneath a 
cover. The wind whistled, too, though but foi' a 
moment, and then it seemed to sail upward into 
the dark vault of the heavens. Nettuno barked 
audibly, and his master answered with another 
shout, for the sympathy of man in his kind is 
inextinguishable. 



THE HEADSMAN. 131 

*' My brave, my noble Nettuno !" 

The stillness was now imposing, and Maso 
heard the dog growl. This ill-omened signal 
was undeniably followed by smothered voices. 
The latter became clearer, as if the mocking winds 
were willing that a sad exhibition of human frailty 
should be known, or, what is more probable, vio- 
lent passion had awakened stronger powers of 
speech. This much the mariner understood. 

" Loosen thy grasp, accursed Baptiste !" 

*' Wretch, loosen thine own !" 

" Is God naught with thee ?" 

" Why dost throttle so, infernal Nicklaus ?" 

" Thou wilt die damned !" 

" Thou chokest — villain — pardon ! — pardon !" 

He heard no more. The merciful elements in ■ 
terposed to drown the appalling strife. Once or 
twice the dog howled, but the tempest came across 
the Leman again in its might, as if the short pause 
had been made merely to take breath. The winds 
took a new direction ; and the bark, still held by 
its anchors, swung wide off from its former posi- 
tion, tending in towards the mountains of Savoy. 
During the first burst of this new blast, even Maso 
was glad to crouch to the deck, for millions of in- 
finitely fine particles were lifted from the lake, and 
driven on with the atmosphere with a violence to 
take away his breath. The danger of being swept 
before the furious tide of the driving element was 
also an accident not impossible. When the lull 
returned, no exertion of his faculties could catch a 
single sound foreign to the proper character of 
the scene, such as the plash of the water, and the 
creaking of the long, swinging yards. 

The mariner now felt a deep concern for his 
dog He called to him until he grew hoarse, but 
fruitlessly. The change of position, with the con- 
stant and varying drift of the vessel, had carried 



132 THE HEADSMAN. 

them beyond the reach of the human voice. More 
time was expended in summoning " Nettuno ! gal- 
lant Nettuno !" than had been consumed in the pas- 
sage of all the events vs^hich it has been necessary 
to our object to relate so minutely, and always 
with the same want of success. The mind of Maso 
was pitched to a degree far above the opinions and 
habits of those with whom his life brought him or- 
dinarily in contact, but as even fine gold will be- 
come tarnished by exposure to impure air, he had 
not entirely escaped the habitual weaknesses of the 
Italians of his class. When he found that no cry 
could recall his faithful companion, he threw him- 
self upon the deck in a paroxysm of passion, tore 
his hair, and wept audibly. 

" Nettuno ! my brave, my faithful Nettuno !" he 
said. " What are all these to me, without thee ! 
Thou alone lovedst me — thou alone hast passed 
with me through fair and foul — through good and 
evil, without change, or wish for another master! 
When the pretended friend has been false, thou hast 
remained faithful ! When others were sycophants, 
thou wert never a flatterer !" 

Struck with this singular exhibition of sorrow, 
the good Augustine, who, until now, like all the 
others, had been looking to his own safety, or em- 
ployed in restoring the exhausted, took advantage 
of the favorable change in the weather, and ad- 
vanced with the language of consolation. 

" Thou hast saved all our lives, bold mariner," 
he said ; *' and there are those in the bark who 
will know how to reward thy courage and skill. 
Forget, then, thy dog, and indulge in a grateful 
heart to Maria and the saints, that they have been 
our friends and thine in this exceeding jeopardy.*' 

"Father, I have eaten with the animal — slept 
with the animal — fought, swum, and made merry 
with him, and I could now drown with him ! What 



THE HEADSMAN. 133 

are thy nobles and their gold to me, without my 
dog? The gallant brute will die the death of de- 
spair, swimming about in search of the bark in the 
midst of the darkness, until even one of his high 
breed and courage must suffer his heart to burst." 

"Christians have been called into the dread 
presence, unconfessed and unshrived, to-night; and 
we should bethink us of their souls, rather than in- 
dulge in this grief in behalf of one that, however 
faithful, ends but an unreasoning and irresponsible 
existence." 

All this was thrown away upon Maso, who cross- 
ed himself habitually at the allusion to the drowned, 
but who did not the less bewail the loss of his dog, 
whom he seemed to love, like the affection that 
David bore for Jonathan, with a love surpassing 
that of women. Perceiving that his counsel was 
useless, the good Augustine turned away, to kneel 
and offer up his own orisons of gratitude, and to 
bethink him of the dead. 

" Nettuno ! povera, carissima hestia /" continued 
Maso, " whither art thou swimming, in this infernal 
quarrel between the air and water? Would I w^ere 
with thee, dog ! No mortal shall ever share the love 
I bore thee, povero Nettuno! — I will never take 
another to my heart, like thee!" 

The outbreaking of Maso's grief was sudden, 
and it was brief in its duration. In this respect 
it might be likened to the hurricane that had just 
passed. Excessive violence, in both cases, ap- 
peared to bring its own remedy, for the irregular 
fitful gusts from the mountains had already ceased, 
and were succeeded by a strong but steady gale 
from the north ; and the sorrow of Maso soon 
ended its characteristic plaints, to take a more 
continued and even character. 

During the whole of the foregoing scenes, the 
common passengers had crouched to the deck, 

Vol, I. M 



134 THE HEADSMAN. 

partly in stupor, partly in superstitious dread, and, 
much of the time, from a positive inability to move, 
without incurring the risk of being driven from 
the defenceless vessel into the lake. But, as the 
wind diminished in force, and the motion of the 
bark became more regular, they rallied their 
senses, like men who had been in a trance, and 
one by one they rose to their feet. About this time 
Adelheid heard the sound of her father's voice, 
blessing her care, and consoling her sorrow. The 
north wind blew away the canopy of clouds, and 
the stars shone upon the angry Leman, bringing 
with them some such promise of divine aid as the 
pillar of fire afforded to the Israelites in their pas- 
sage of the Red Sea. Such an evidence of return- 
ing peace brought renewed confidence. All in the 
bark, passengers as well as crew, took courage at 
the benignant signs, while Adelheid wept, in grati- 
tude and joy, over the gray hairs of her father. 

Maso had now obtained complete command of 
the Winkelried, as much by the necessity of the 
case, as by the unrivalled skill and courage he had 
manifested during the fearful minutes of their ex- 
treme jeopardy. No sooner did he succeed in stay- 
ing his own grief, than he called the people about 
him, and issued his orders for the new measures 
that had become necessary. 

All who have ever been subject to their influ- 
ence know that there is nothing more uncertain 
than the winds. Their fickleness has passed into 
a proverb ; but their inconstancy, as well as their 
power, from the fanning air to the destructive tor- 
nado, are to be traced to causes that are suffi- 
ciently clear, though hid in their nature from the 
calculations of our forethought. The tempest of 
the night was owing to the simple fact, that a con- 
densed and chilled column of the mountains had 
pressed upon the heated substratum of the lake, 



THE HEADSMAiV. 135 

and the latter, after a long resistance, suddenly 
finding vent for its escape, had been obliged to let 
in the cataract from above. As in all extraordi- 
nary efforts, whether physical or moral, reaction 
would seem to be a consequence of excessive ac- 
tion, the currents of air, pushed beyond their proper 
limits, were now setting back again, like a tide on 
its reflux. This cause produced the northern gale 
that succeeded the hurricane. 

The wind that came from off* the shores of Vaud 
was steady and fresh. The barks of the Leman 
are not constructed for beating to windward, and 
it might even have been questioned, whether the 
Winkelried v.ould have borne her canvass against 
so heavy a breeze. Maso, however, appeared to 
understand himself thoroughly, and as he had ac- 
quired the influence which hardihood and skill are 
sure to obtain over doubt and timidity in situations 
of hazard, he was obeyed by all on board with 
submission, if not with zeal. No more was heard 
of the headsman or of kis supposed agency in the 
storm ; and, as he prudently kept himself in the 
back-ground, so as not to endanger a revival of 
the superstition of his enemies, he seemed entirely 
forgotten. 

The business of getting the anchors occupied a 
considerable time, for Maso refused, now there 
existed no necessity for the sacrifice, to permit a 
yarn to be cut; but, released from this hold on the 
water, the bark whirled away, and was soon dri- 
ving before the wind. The mariner was at the 
helm, and, causing the head-sail to be loosened, he 
steered directly for the rocks of Savoy. This 
manoeuvre excited disagreeable suspicions in the 
minds of several on board, for the lawless charac- 
ter of their pilot had been more than suspected in 
the course of their short acquaintance, and the 
coast towards which they w^ere furiously rushing 



136 THE HEADSMAN. 

was known to be iron-bound, and, in such a gale, 
fatal to all who came rudely upon its rocks. Half- 
an-hour removed their apprehensions. When neai 
enough to the mountains to feel their deadening 
influence on the gale, the natural eftect of the ed- 
dies, formed by their resistance to the currents, he 
luffed-to and set his main-sail. Relieved by this 
wise precaution, the Winkelried now wore her 
canvass gallantly, and she dashed along the shore 
of Savoy with a foaming beak, shooting past ra- 
vine, valley, glen, and hamlet, as if sailing in air. 

In less than an hour, St. Gingoulph, or the vil- 
lage through which the dividing line between the 
territories of Switzerland and those of the King 
of Sardinia passes, was abeam, and the excellent 
calculations of the sagacious P»Iaso became still 
more apparent. He had foreseen another shift of 
wind, as the consequence of all this poise and coun- 
terpoise, and he was here met by the true breeze 
of the night. The last current came out of the 
gorge of the Valais, sullen, strong, and hoarse, 
bringing him, however, fairly to windward of his 
port. The Winkelried was cast in season, and, 
when the gale struck her anew, her canvass drew 
fairly, and she walked out from beneath the moun- 
tains into the broad lake, like a swan obeying its 
instinct. 

The passage across the width of the Leman, in 
that horn of the crescent and in such a breeze, re- 
quired rather more than an hour. This time was 
occupied among the common herd in self-felicita- 
tions, and in those vain boastings that distinguish 
the vulgar who have escaped an imminent danger 
without any particular merit of their own. Among 
those whose spirits were better trained and more 
rebuked, there were attentions to the sufferers and 
deep thanksgivings with the touching intercourse 
of the grateful and happy. The late scenes, and 



THE HEADSMAN. 137 

the fearful fate of the patron and Nicholaus Wag- 
ner, cast a shade upon their joy, but all inwardly 
felt that they had been snatched from the jaws of 
death. 

Maso shaped his course by the beacon that still 
blazed in the grate of old Roger de Blonay. With 
his eye riveted on the luff of his sail, his hip bear- 
ing hard against the tiller, and a heart that relieved 
itself, from time to time, with bitter sighs, he ruled 
the bark like a presiding spirit. 

At length the black mass of the cotes of Vaud 
took more distinct and regular forms. Here and 
there, a tower or a tree betrayed its outHnes 
against the sky, and then the objects on the mar- 
gin of the lake began to stand out in gloomy relief 
from the land. Lights flared along the strand, and 
cries reached them from the shore. A dark shape- 
less pile stood directly atwhart their watery path, 
and, at the next moment, it took the aspect of a 
ruined castle-like edifice. The canvass flapped 
and was handed, the Winkelried rose and set more 
slowly and with a gentler movement, and glided 
into the little, secure, artificial haven of La Tour 
de Peil. A forest of latine yards and low masts 
lay before them, but, by giving the bark a rank 
sheer, Maso brought her to her berth, by the side 
of another lake craft, with a gentleness of collision 
that, as tlie mariners have it, would not have bro- 
ken an egg. 

A hundred voices greeted the travellers; for 
their approach had been seen and watched with 
intense anxiety. Fifty eager Yevaisans poured 
upon her deck, in a noisy crowd, the instant it 
was possible. Among others, a dark shaggy ob- 
ject bounded foremost. It leaped wildly forward, 
and Maso found himself in the embraces of JVet- 
tuno. A little later, when delight and a more 
M2 



138 THE HEADSMAN. 

tempered feeling permitted examination, a lock of 
human hair was discovered entangled in the teeth 
of the dog, and the following week the bodies of 
Baptistc and the peasant of Berne were found, 
still clenched in the desperate death-gripe, washed 
upon the shores of Vaud. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The moon is up ; by Heaven a lovely eve ! 
Long streams of light o'er glancing waves expand ; 
Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe : 
Such be our fate when we return to land I 

Byron. 

The approach of the Winkelried had been seen 
from Vevey throughout the afternoon and evening. 
The arrival of the Baron de Willading and his 
daughter was expected by many in the town, the 
rank and influence of the former in the great can- 
ton rendering him an object of interest to more 
than those who felt affection for his person and 
respect for his upright qualities. Roger de Blonay 
had not been his only youthful friend, for the place 
contained another, with whom he was intimate by 
habit, if not from a community of those principles 
which are the best cement of friendships. 

The officer charged with the especial supervis- 
ion of the districts or circles, into which Berne 
had caused its dependent territory of Vaud to bo 
divided, was termed a haiJU, a title that our word 
bailiff will scarcely render, except as it may strictly 
mean a substitute for the exercise of authority that 
is the property of another, but which, for the want 
of a better term, we may be compelled occasion- 



THE HEADSMAK. 1S9 

ally to use. The bailli, or bailiff, of Vevey was 
Peter Hofmeister, a member of one of those fami- 
lies of the biirgerschaft, or the municipal aristoc- 
racy of the canton, which found its institutions 
venerable, just, and, and if one might judge from 
their language, almost sacred, simply because it 
had been in possession of certain exclusive privi- 
leges under their authority, that were not only com- 
fortable in their exercise but fecund in other world- 
ly advantages. This Peter Hofmeister was, in the 
main, a hearty, well-meaning, and somewhat benev- 
olent person, but, living as he did under the secret 
consciousness that all was not as it should be, he 
pushed his opinions on the subject of vested inter- 
ests, and on the stability of temporal matters, a 
little into extremes, pretty much on the same prin- 
ciple as that on which the engineer expends the 
largest portion of his art in fortifying the weakest 
point of the citadel, taking care that there shall be 
a constant flight of shot, great and small, across 
the most accessible of its approaches. By one of 
the exclusive ordinances of those times, in which 
men were glad to get relief from the violence and 
rapacity of the baron and the satelhte of the prince, 
ordinances that it was the fashion of the day to 
term liberty, the family of Hofmeister had come 
into the exercise of a certain charge, or monopoly, 
that, in truth, had always constituted its wealth 
an<l importance, but of which it w^as accustomed 
to speak as forming its principal claim to the grati- 
tude of the public, for duties that had been per- 
formed not only so well, but for so long a period, 
by an unbroken succession of patriots descended 
from the same stock. They who judged of the 
value attached to the possession of this charge, by 
the animation with which all attempts to relieve 
them of the burthen were repelled, must have been 
in error ; for, to hear their friends descant on the 



140 THE HEADSMAN. 

difficulties of the duties, of the utter impossibility 
that they should be properly discharged by any 
family that had not been in their exercise just one 
hundred and seventy-two years and a half, the pre- 
cise period of the hard servitude of the Hofmeis- 
ters, and the rare merit of their self-devotion to 
the common good, it would seem that they were 
so many modern Curtii, anxious to leap into the 
chasm of uncertain and endless toil, to save the 
Republic from the ignorance and peculations of 
certain interested and selfish knaves, who wished 
to enjoy the same liigli trusts, for a motive so un- 
worthy as that of their own particular advantage. 
This subject apart, however, and with a strong 
reservation in favor of the supremacy of Berne, 
on whom his importance depended, a better or a 
more philanthropic man than Peter Hofmcister 
would not have been easily found. He was a hear- 
ty laugher, a hard drinker, a common and peculiar 
failing of the age, a great respecter of the law, as 
was meet in one so situated, and a bachelor of 
sixty-eight, a time of life that, by referring his edu- 
cation to a period more remote by half a century, 
than that in which the incidents of our legend took 
place, was not at all in favor of any very romantic 
predilection in behalf of the rest of the human 
race. In short, the Herr Hofmeister was a bailiff, 
much as Balthazar was a headsman, on account 
of some particular merit or demerit, (it might now 
be difficult to say which,) of one of his ancestors, 
by the laws of the canton, and by the opinions of 
men. The only material difference between them 
was in the fact, that the one greatly enjoyed his 
station, while the other had but an indifferent I'elish 
for his trust. 

When Roger de Blonay, by the aid of a good 
glass, had assured himself that the bark which lay 
off St. Saphorin, in the even tide, with yards u- 



THE HEADSMAN. 141 

CQck-bill, and sails pendent in their picturesque 
drapery, contained a party of identic travellers 
who occupied the stern, and saw by the plumes 
and robes that a female of condition w^as among 
them, he gave an order to prepare the beacon-fire, 
and descended to the port, in order to be in readi- 
ness to receive his friend. Here he found the bai- 
lift', pacing the public promenade, which is w^ashed 
by the Hmpid water of the lake, with the air of a 
man w^ho had more on his mind than the daily 
cares of office. Although the Baron de Blonay 
was a Vaudois, and looked upon all the function- 
aries of his country's conquerors with a species of 
hereditary dishke, he was by nature a man of mild 
and courteous qualities, and the meeting was, as 
usual, friendly in the externals, and of seeming 
cordiality. Great care w^as had by both to speak 
in the second person ; on the part of the Vaudois, 
that it might be seen he valued himself as, at least, 
the equal of the representative of Berne, and, on 
that of the bailiff, in order to show that his office 
made him as good as the head of the oldest house 
in all that region. 

" Thou expectest to see friends from Genf in 
yonder bark?" said the Herr Hofmeister, ab- 
ruptly. 

*'And thou?" 

"A friend, and one more than a friend;" an- 
swered the bailiff, evasively. " My advices tell 
me that Melchior de Willading will sojourn among 
us during the festival of the Abbaye, and secret 
notice has been sent that tliere will be another 
here, who wishes to see our merry-making, with- 
out pretension to the honors that he might fairly 
claim." 

" It is not rare for nobles of mark, and even 
princes, to visit us on these occasions, under feign- 
ed names and without the eclat of their rank : for 



142 THE HEADSMAIV. 

the great, when they descend to folHes, seldom 
hke to bring their high condition within their in- 
fluence." 

" The wiser they. I have my own troubles with 
these accursed fooleries, for — it may be a weak- 
ness, but it is one that is ollicial — I cannot help ima- 
gining that a bailiff cuts but a shabby figure before 
the people, in the presence of so many gods and 
goddesses. To own to thee the truth, I rejoice 
that he who cometh, cometh as he doth. — Hast 
letters of late date from Berne?" 

" None ; though report says that there is like to 
be a change among som.e of those who fill the pub- 
lic trusts." 

" So much the worse !" growled the bailiff. *' Is 
it to be expected that men who never did an hour's 
duty in a charge can acquit themselves like those 
who have, it might be said, sucked in practice 
with their mother's Jiiilk?" 

"Ay; this is well enough for thee; but others 
say that even the Erlachs had a beginning." 

" Himmel ! Am I a heathen to deny this ? As 
many beginnings as thou wilt, good Roger, but I 
like not thy ends. No doubt an Erlach is mortal, 
like all of us, and even a created being ; but a man 
is not a charge. Let the clay die, if thou wilt, 
but, if thou would st have faithful or skilful servants, 
look to the true successor. But we will have 
none of this to-day. — Hast many guests at Blo- 
nay?" 

" Not one. I look for the company of Melchior 
de Willading and his daujg^hter — and yet I like not 
the time ! There are evil signs playing about the 
high peaks and in the neighborhood of the Dents, 
since the sun has set !" 

" Thou art ever in a storm up in thy castle, 
there ! The Leman was never more peaceable, 
and I should take it truly in evil part, were the re- 



THE HEADSMAN. 143 

bellious lake to get into one of its fits of sudden 
anger with so precious a freight on its bosom." 

" I do not think the Genfer See will regard even 
a bailift^'s displeasure !" rejoined the Baron de 
Blonay, laughing. " I repeat it ; the signs are 
suspicious. Let us consult the watermen, for it 
may be w^ell to send a light-pulling boat to bring 
the travellers to land." 

Roger de Blonay and the bailiff walked towards 
the little earthen mole, that partially protects the 
roadstead of Vevey, and which is for ever forming 
and for ever washing away before the storms of 
winter, in order to consult some of those w^ho were 
believed to be expert in detecting the symptoms 
that precede any important changes of the atmo- 
sphere. The opinions were various. Most believed 
there would be a gust ; but, as the Winkelried was 
known to be a new and well-built bark, and none 
could tell how much beyond her powers she had 
been loaded by the cupidity of Baptiste, and as it 
was generally thought the wind would be as likely 
to bring her up to her haven as to be against her, 
there appeared no sufficient reason for sending off 
the boat ; especially as it v/as believed the bark 
would be not only drier but safer than a smaller 
craft, should they be overtaken by the wdnd. This 
indecision, so common in cases of uncertainty, was 
the means of exposing Adelheid and her father to 
all those fearful risks they had just run. 

When the night came on, the people of the town 
began to understand that the tempest would be 
grave for those who were obliged to encounter it, 
even in the best bark on the Leman. The dark 
ness added to the danger, for vessels had often run 
against the land by miscalculating their distances; 
and the lights were shown along the strand, by or- 
der of the bailiff, who manifested an interest so un- 
usual in those on board the Winkelried, as to draw 



144 THE HEADSMAIN'. 

about them more than the sympathy that would 
ordinarily be felt for travellers in distress. Every 
exertion that the case admitted was made in their 
behalf, and, the moment the state of the lake al- 
lowed, boats were sent off, in every probable di- 
rection, to their succor. But the Winkelried was 
running along the coast of Savoy, ere any ventur- 
ed forth, and the search proved fruitless. When 
the rumor spread, however, that a sail was to be 
discerned coming out from under the wide shadow 
of the opposite mountains, and that it was steering 
for La Tour de Peil, a village with a far safer har- 
bor than that of Vevey, and but an arrow's flight 
from the latter town, crowds rushed to the spot. 
The instant it was known that the missing party 
was in her, the travellers were received with 
cheers of delight and cries of hearty greeting. 

The bailift' and Roger de Blonay hastened for- 
ward to receive the Baron de Willading and his 
friends, who were carried in a tumultuous and joy- 
ful manner into the old castle that adjoins the port, 
and from which, in truth, the latter derives its 
name. The Bernois noble was too much affected 
with the scenes through which he had so lately 
passed, and with the strong and ungovernable ten- 
derness of Adelheid, who had wept over him as 
a mother sobs over her recovered child, to ex- 
change greetings with him of Vaud, in the hearty, 
cordial manner that ordinarily characterized their 
meetings. Still their peculiar habits shone through 
the restraint. 

" Thou seest me just rescued from the fishes of 
hy Leman, dear de Blonay," he said, squeezing 
he other's hand with emotion, as, leaning on his 
shoulder, they went into the chateau. " But for 
yonder brave youth, and as honest a mariner as 
ever floated on water, fresh or salt, all that is left 
of old Melchior de Willading would, at this mo- 



THE HEADSMAN. 145 

ment, be of less value than the meanest fera in thy 
lake !" 

" God be praised that thou art as we see thee ! 
We feared for thee, and boats are out at this mo- 
ment in search of thy bark : but it has been wiser 
ordered. This brave young man, who, I see, is 
both a Swiss and a soldier, is doubly welcome 
among us, — in the two characters just named, and 
as one that haih done thee and us so great a ser- 
vice." 

Sigismund received the compliments which he 
so well merited with modesty. The bailiff, how- 
ever, not content with making the usual felicita- 
tions, whispered in his ear that a service like this, 
rendered to one of its most esteemed nobles, would 
not be forgotten by the Councils on a proper oc- 
casion. 

" Thou art happily arrived, Herr Melchior," he 
then added, aloud ; " come as thou wilt, floating 
or sailing in air. We have thee among us none 
the worse for the accident, and w^e thank God, as 
Roger de Blonay has just so well observed. Our 
Abbaye is like to be a gallant ceremony, for divers 
gentlemen of name are in the town, and I hear of 
more that are pricking forward among the moun- 
tains from countries beyond the Rhine. Hadst thou 
no other companions in the bark but these I see 
around us?' 

" There is another, and I wonder that he is not 
here ! 'Tis a noble Genoese, that thou hast often 
heard me name. Sire de Blonay, as one that I love. 
Gaetano Grimaldi is a name familiar to thee, or 
the words ol friendship have been uttered in an 
idle ear." 

'' I have heard so much of the Italian that I can 
almost fancy him an old and tried acquaintance. 
When thou first returnedst from the Italian wars, 

Vol. I. N 



146 THE HEADSMAN. 

thy tongue was never weary of recounting his 
praises : it was Gaetano said this — Gaetano thought 
thus — Gaetano did that ! Surely he is not of thy 
company'?" 

" He, and no other ! A lucky meeting on the 
quay of Genf brought us together again after a 
separation of full thirty years, and, as if Heaven 
had reserved its trials for the occasion, we have 
been made to go through the late danger in com- 
pany. I had him in my arms in that fearful mo- 
ment, Roger, when the sky, and the mountains, 
and all of earth, even to that dear girl, were 
fading, as I thought for ever, from my sight, — he, 
that had aj ready been my partner in so many 
risks, who had bled for me, watched for me, rid- 
den for me, and did all other things that love could 
prompt for me, was brought by Providence to be 
my companion in the awful strait through which I 
have just passed !" 

While the Baron w^as still speaking, his friend 
entered with the quiet and dignified mien he al- 
ways maintained, when it was not his pleasure to 
throw aside the reserve of high station, or when 
he yielded to the torrents of feeling that sometimes 
poured through his southern temperament, in a 
way to unsettle the deportment of mere conven- 
tion. He was presented to Roger de Blonay and 
the bailiff, as the person just alluded to, and as the 
oldest and most tried of the friends of his intro- 
ducer. His reception by the former was natural 
and warm, while the Herr Hofmeister was so par- 
ticular in his professions of pleasure and respect 
as to excite not only notice but surprise. 

" Thanks, thanks, good Peterchen," said the 
Baron de Willading, for such was the familiar 
diminutive by which the bustling bailiff was usu- 
ally addressed by those who could take the Hberty; 



THE HEADSMAN-. 147 

*' thanks, honest Peterchen ; thy kindness to Gae- 
tano is so much love shown to myself.'^ 

'• I honor thy friends as thyself, Herr von Wil- 
lading," returned the baihff; "for thou hast a claim 
to the esteem of the biirgerschaft and all its ser- 
vants ; but the homage paid to the Signor Gri- 
maldi is due on his own account. We are but 
poor Swiss, that dwell in the midst of wild moun- 
tains, little favored by the sun if ye will, and less 
known to the world ; — but we have our manners ! 
A man that hath been intrusted with authority as 
long as I were unfit for his trust, did he not tell, 
as it might be by instinct, when he has those in 
his presence that are to be honored. Signore, the 
loss of Melchior von Willading before our haven, 
would have made the lake unpleasant to us all, for 
months, not to say years ; but, had so great a ca- 
lamity arrived as that of your death by means of 
our waters, I could have prayed that the moun- 
tains might fall into the basin, and bury the offend- 
ing Leman under their rocks !" 

Melchior de Willading and old Roger de Blo- 
nay laughed heartily at Peterchen's hyperbolical 
compliments ; though it was quite plain that the 
worthy bailiff himself fancied he had said a clever 
thing. 

" I thank you, Signore, no less than my friend 
de Willading," returned the Genoese, a gleam of 
humor lighting his eye. " This courteous recep- 
tion quite outdoes us of Italy ; for I doubt if there 
be a man south of the Alps, who would be willing 
to condemn either of our seas to so overwhelming 
a punishment, for a fault so venial, or at least so 
natural. I beg, however, that the lake may be 
pardoned ; since, at the worst, it was but a sec- 
ondary agent in the affair, and, I doubt not, it would 
have treated us as it treats all travellers, had we 
kept out of its embraces. The crime must be im- 



148 THE HEADSMAN. 

puted to the winds, and as they are the offspring 
of the hills, I fear it will be found that these very 
mountains, to which you look for retribution, will 
be convicted at last as the true devisers and abet- 
tors of the plot against our lives." 

The baihff chuckled and simpered, like a man 
pleased equally with his own wit and with that he 
had excited in others, and the discourse changed; 
though, throughout the night, as indeed was the 
fact on all other occasions during his visit, the 
Signor Grimaldi received from him so marked and 
particular attentions, as to create a strong senti- 
ment in favor of the Italian among those who had 
been chiefly accustomed to see Peterchen enact 
the busy, important, dignified, local functionary. 

Attention was now paid to the first wants of the 
travellers, who had great need of refreshments af- 
ter the fatigues and exposure of the day. To ob- 
tain the latter, Roger de Blonay insisted that they 
should ascend to his castle, in whose grate the wel- 
coming beacon still blazed. By means of cliars- 
ci-hanc, the peculiar vehicle of the country, the 
short distance wa^ soon overcome, the bailiff, not 
a little to the surprise of the owner of the house, 
insisting on seeing the strangers safely housed with- 
in its walls. At the gate of Blonay, however, Pe- 
terchen took his leave, making a hundred apologies 
for his absence, on the ground of the extensive 
duties that had devolved on his shoulders in conse- 
quence of the approaching fete. 

" We shall have a mild winter, for I have never 
known the Herr Hofmeister so courteous;" ob- 
served Roger de Blonay, while showing his guests 
into the castle. " Thy Bernese authorities, Mel- 
chior, are little apt to be lavish of their compli- 
ments to us poor nobles of Vaud." 

" Signore, you forget the interest of our friend ;'* 
observed the laucrhim? Genoese. ** There are other 



THE HEADSMAN* 149 

and better bailiwicks, beyond a question, in the 
gifts of the Councils, and the Signor de Willading 
has a loud voice in their disposal. Have I found 
a solution for this zeal V 

" Thou hast not," returned the baron, *' for Pe- 
terchen hath little hope beyond that of dying where 
he has lived, the deputed ruler of a small district. 
The worthy man should have more credit for a 
good heart, his own, no doubt, being touched at 
seeing those who are, as it may be, redeemed from 
the grave. I owe him grace for the kindness, and 
should a better thing really offer, and could my 
poor voice be of account, why, I do not say it 
should be silent ; it is serving the public well, to 
put men of these kind feelings into places of trust." 

This opinion appeared very natural to the listen- 
ers, all of whom, with the exception of the Signor 
GrimaWi, joined in echoing the sentiment. The 
latter, more experienced in the windings of the 
human heart, or possessing some reasons known 
only to himself, merely smiled at the remarks that 
he heard, as if he thoroughly understood the differ- 
ence between the homage that is paid to station, 
and that which a generous and noble nature is com- 
pelled to yield to its own impulses. 

An hour later, the light repast was ended, and 
Roger de Blonay informed his guests that they 
would be well repaid for walking a short distance, 
by a look at the loveliness of the night. In sooth, 
the change was already so great, that it was not 
easy for the imagination to convert the soft and 
smiling scene that lay beneath and above the tow- 
ers of Blonay, into the dark vault and the angry 
lake from which they had so lately escaped. 

Every cloud had already sailed far away towards 

the plains of Germany, and the moon had climbed 

so high above the ragged Dent de Jaman as to 

suffer its rays to stream into the basin of the Le- 

N2 



150 THE HEADSMAN. 

man. A thousand pensive stars spangled the vault 
images of the benign omnipotence which unceas- 
ingly pervades and governs the universe, what- 
ever may be the local derangements or accidental 
struggles of the inferior agents. The foaming and 
rushing waves had gone down nearly as fast as 
they had arisen, and, in their stead, remained my- 
riads of curling ridges along which the glittering 
moonbeams danced, rioting with mild impunity on 
the surface of the placid sheet. Boats were out 
again, pulling for Savoy or the neighboring vil- 
lages ; and the whole view betokened the renewed 
confidence of those who trusted habitually to the 
fickle and blustering elements. 

*' There is a strons; and fearful resemblance be- 
tween the human passions and these hot and angry 
gusts of nature ;" observed the Signor Grimaldi, 
after they had stood silently regarding the scene 
for several musing minutes — " alike quick to be 
aroused and to be appeased ; equally ungovernable 
while in the ascendant, and admitting the influence 
of a wholesome reaction, that brings a more sober 
tranquillity, when the fit is over. Your nortliern 
phlegm may render the analogy less apparent, but 
it is to be found as well among the cooler temper- 
aments of the Teutonic stock, as among us of 
warmer blood. Do not this placid hill-side, yon 
lake, and the starry heavens, look as if they re- 
gretted their late unseemly violence, and wished 
to cheat the beholder into forgctfulness of their 
attack on our safety, as an impetuous but generous 
nature would repent it of the blow given in anger, 
or of the cutting speech that had escaped in a mo- 
ment of spleen ? What hast thou to say to my 
opinion, Signor Sigismund, for none know better 
than thou the quality of the tempest we have en- 
countered ?" 

" Signore," answered the young soldier, mod- 



THE HEADSMAN. 151 

estly, **you forget this brave mariner, without 
whose coolness and forethought all would have 
been lost. lie has come up to Blonay, at our ov^n 
request, but, until now, he has been overlooked." 

Maso came forward at a signal from Sigismund, 
and stood before the party to whom he had ren- 
dered so signal aid, with a composure that was 
not easily disturbed. 

" I have come up to the castle, Signore, at your 
commands," he said, addressing the Genoese ; 
" but, having my own aftairs on hand, must now 
beg to know your pleasure V 

" We have, in sooth, been negligent of thy merit. 
On landing, my first thought was of thee, as thou 
knowest : but other things had caused me to forget 
thee. Thou art, like myself, an Italian ?" 

" Signore, I am." 

" Of what country ?" 

" Of your own, Signore ; a Genoese, as I have 
said before." 

The other remembered the circumstance, though 
it did not seem to please him. He looked around, 
as if to detect what others thought, and then con- 
tinued his questions. 

"A Genoese!" he repeated, slowly: "if this be 
so, we should know something of each other. 
Hast ever heard of me, in thy frequent visits to 
the port ?" 

Maso smiled ; at first," he appeared disposed to 
be facetious; but a dark cloud passed over his 
swarthy hneaments, and he lost his pleasantry, in 
an air of thoughtfulness that struck his interroga- 
tor as singular. 

" Signore," he said, after a pause, ^' most that 
follow my manner of life know something of your 
eccellenza ; if it is only to be questioned of this 
that I am here, I pray leave to be permitted to go 
my way." 



152 THE HEADSMAN- 

" No, by San Francesco ! thou quittest us not so 
unceremoniously. I am wrong to assume the man- 
ner of a superior with one to whom I owe my 
life, and am well answered. But there is a heavy 
account to be settled between us, and I will do 
something towards wiping out the balance, which 
is so greatly against me, now ; leaving thee to apply 
for a further statement, when we shall both be 
again in our own Genoa." 

The Signor Grimaldi had reached forth an arm, 
while speaking, and received a well-filled purse 
from his countryman and companion, Marcelh. 
This was soon emptied of its contents, a fair show 
of sequins, all of which were offered to the mari- 
ner, without reservation. Maso looked coldly at 
the glittering pile, and, by his hesitation, left a 
doubt whether he did not think the reward insuf- 
ficient. 

" I tell thee it is but the present gage of further 
payment. At Genoa our account shall be fairly 
settled ; but this is all that a traveller can prudent- 
ly spare. Thou wilt come to me in our own town, 
and we will look to all thy interests." 

*' Signore, you offer that for which men do all 
acts, whether of good or of evil. They jeopard 
their souls for this very metal ; mock at God's 
laws; overlook the right; trifle with justice, and 
become devils incarnate to possess it ; and yet, 
though nearly penniless, I am so placed as to be 
compelled to refuse what you offer." 

" I tell thee, Maso, that it shall be increased here- 
after — or — we are not so poor as to go a-begging ! 
Good Marcelli, empty thy hoards, and I will have 
recourse to Melchior de Willadingi's purse for our 
wants, until we can get nearer to our own sup- 
plies." 

" And is Melchior de Willading to pass for no- 
thing, in all this !" exclaimed the Baron ; " put up 



THE HEADSMAN. 153 

thy gold, Gaetano, and leave me to satisfy the 
honest mariner for the present. At a later day, 
he can come to thee, in Italy : but here, on my 
own ground, I claim the right to be his banker." 

" Signore," retm^ned Maso, earnestly and with 
more of gentle feehng than he was accustomed to 
betray, *' you are both liberal beyond my desires, 
and but too well disposed for my poor wants. I 
have come up to the castle at your order, and to 
do you pleasure, but not in the hope to get money. 
I am poor ; that it would be useless to deny, for 
appearances are against me — " here he laughed, 
his auditors thought in a manner that was forced 
— " but poverty and meanness are not always in- 
separable. You have more than suspected to-day 
that my life is free, and I admit it ; but it is a mis- 
take to beheve that, because men quit the high-road 
which some call honesty, in any particular prac- 
tice, they are without human feeling. I have been 
useful in saving your lives, Sign^ri, and there is 
more pleasure in the reflection, than I should 
find in having the means to earn twice the gold 
ye offer. Here is the Signor Capitano," he added, 
taking Sigismund by the arm, and dragging him 
forward, " lavish your favors on him, for no 
practice of mine could have been of use without 
his bravery. If ye give him all in your treasuries, 
even to its richest pearl, ye wall do no more than 
reason." 

As Maso ceased, he cast a glance towards the 
attentive, breathless Adelheid, that continued to 
utter his meaning even after the tongue was silent. 
The bright suffusion that covered the maiden's 
face was visible even by the pale moonlight, and 
Sigismund shrunk back from his rude grasp in the 
manner in which the guilty retire from notice. 

" These opinions are creditable to thee, Maso," 
returned the Genoese, affecting not to understand 



154 THE HEADSMAN-. 

his more particular meaning, " and they excite a 
stronger wish to be thy friend. I will say no more 
on the subject at present, for I see thy humor. 
Thou wilt let me see thee at Genoa?" 

The expression of Maso's countenance was in- 
expHcable, but he retained his usual indifference 
of manner. 

" Signor Gaetano," he said, using a mariner's 
freedom in the address, " there are nobles in 
Genoa that might better knock at the door of your 
palace than I ; and there are those, too, in the city 
that would gossip, were it known that you received 
such guests." 

" This is tying thyself too closely to an evil and 
a dangerous trade. I suspect thee to be of the 
contraband, but surely it is not a pursuit so free 
from danger, of so much repute, or, judging by 
thy attire, of so much profit even, that thou need- 
est be wedded to it for hfe. Means can be found 
to relieve thee from its odium, by giving thee a 
place in those customs with which thou hast so 
often trifled.", 

Maso laughed outright. 

" So it is, Signore, in this moral world of ours : 
he who would run a fair course in any particular 
trust has only to make himself dangerous to be 
bought up. Your thief-takers are desperate rogues 
out of business ; your tide-waiter has got his art by 
cheating the revenue; and I have been in lands 
where it was said, that all they w^ho most fleeced 
the people began their calling as suflering patriots. 
The rule is firmly enough established without the 
help of my poor name, and, by your leave, I will 
remain as I am ; one that hath his pleasure in liv- 
ing amid risks, and who takes his revenge of the 
authorities by railing at them when defeated, and 
in laughing at them when in success." 



THE HEADSMAN. 155 

*•* Young man, thou hast in thee the materials of 
a better hfe !" 

" Signore, this may be true," answered Maso, 
whose countenance again grew dark ; " we boast 
of being the lords of the creation, but the bark of 
poor Baptista was not less master of its move- 
ments, in the late gust, than we are masters of our 
fortunes. Signor Grimaldi, I have in me the 
materials that make a man; but ths laws, and 
the opinions, and the accursed strife of men, have 
left me what I am. For the first fifteen years of 
my career, the church was to be my stepping- 
stone to a cardinal's hat or a fat priory ; but the 
briny sea-water washed out the necessary unc- 
tion." 

" Thou art better born than thou seemest — thou 
hast friends who should be grieved at thisl" 

The eye of Maso flashed, but he bent it aside, as 
if bearing down, by the force of an indomitable 
will, some sudden and fierce impulse. 

" I was born of woman !" he said, with singular 
emphasis. 

" And thy mother — is she not pained at thy 
present course — does she know of thy career ?" 

The haggard smile to which this question gave 
birth induced the Genoese to regret that he had 
put it. Maso evidently struggled to subdue some 
feehng which harrowed his very soul, and his suc- 
cess was owing to such a command of himself as 
men rarely obtain. 

" She is dead," he answered, huskily ; " she is a 
saint with the angels. Had she lived, I should 
never have been a mariner, and — and — " laying 
his hand on his throat, as if to keep down the 
sense of suflfocation, he smiled, and added, laugh- 
ingly, — '' ay, and the good Winkelried would have 
been a wreck." 

" Maso, thou must come to me at Genoa. I 



156 THE HEADSMAN. 

must see more of thee, and question thee further 
of thy fortunes. A fair spirit has been perverted 
in thy fall, and the friendly aid of one who is not 
without influence may still restore its tone." 

The Signor Grimaldi spoke warmly, like one 
who sincerely felt regret, and his voice had all the 
melancholy and earnestness of such a sentiment. 
The truculent nature of Maso was touched by 
this show of interest, and a multitude of fierce 
passions were at once subdued. He approached 
the noble Genoese, and respectfully took his hand. 

" Pardon the freedom, Signore," he said more 
mildly, intently regarding the wrinkled and attenu- 
ated fingers, with the map-hke tracery of veins, 
that he held in his own brown and hard palm; 
" this is not the first time that our flesh has touch- 
ed each other, though it is the first time that our 
hands have joined. Let it now be in amity. A 
humor has come over me, and I would crave your 
pardon, venerable noble, for the freedom. Sig- 
nore, you are aged, and honored, and stand high, 
doubtless, in Heaven's favor, as in that of man — 
grant me, then, your blessing, ere I go my way." 

As Maso preferred this extraordinary request, 
he knelt with an air of so much reverence and sin- 
cerity as to leave Uttle choice as to granting it. 
The Genoese was surprised, but not disconcerted. 
"With perfect dignity and self-possession, and with 
a degree of feeling that was not unsuited to the 
occasion, the fruit of emotions so powerfully awak- 
ened, he pronounced the benediction. The mariner 
arose, kissed the hand which he still held, made a 
hurried sign of salutation to all, leaped down the 
dechvity on which they stood, and vanished among 
the shadows of a copse. 

Sigismund, who had witnessed this unusual 
scene with surprise, watched him to the last, and 
he saw, by the manner in which he dashed his 



THE HEADSMAN. 157 

hand across his eyes, that his fierce nature had 
been singularly shaken. On recovering his 
thoughts, the Signor Grimaldi, too, felt certain 
there had been no mockery in the conduct of 
their inexplicable preserver, for a hot tear had fal- 
len on his hand ere it was liberated. He was him- 
self strongly agitated by what had passed, and, 
leaning on his friend, he slowly re-entered the 
gates of Blonay. 

" This extraordinary demand of Maso's has 
brought up the sad image of my own poor son, 
dear Melchior," he said ; " would to Heaven that he 
could have received this blessing, and that it might 
have been of use to him, in the sight of God ! Nay, 
he may yet hear of it — for, canst thou believe it, 
I have thought that Maso may be one of his 
lawless associates, and that some wild desire to 
communicate this scene has prompted the strange 
request 1 granted." 

The discourse continued, but it became secret, 
and of the most confidential kind. The rest of the 
party soon sought their beds, though lamps were 
burning in the chambers of the two old nobles to 
a late hour of the night. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Where are my Switzers 1 Let them guard the door : 
What is the matter? 

Hamlet. 

The American autumn, or fall, as we poetically 
and atfectionately term this generous and mellow- 
season among ourselves, is thought to be unsur- 

VOL. I. O 



158 THE HEADSMAN. 

passed, in its warm and genial lustre, its bland and 
exhilarating airs, and its admirable constancy, by 
the decline of the year in nearly every other por- 
tion of the earth. Whether attachment to our 
own fair and generous land, has led us to over-es- 
timate its advantages or not, and bright and cheer 
ful as our autumnal days certainly are, a fairer 
morning never dawned upon the Alleghanies, than 
that which illumined the Alps, on the reappear- 
ance of the sun after the gust of the night which 
has been so lately described. As the day ad- 
vanced, the scene grew gradually more lovely, until 
warm and glowing Italy itself could scarce pre- 
sent a landscape more winning, or one possessing 
a fairer admixture of the grand and the soft, than 
that which greeted the eye of Adelheid de Willa- 
ding, as, leaning on the arm of her father, she is- 
sued from the gate- of Blonay, upon its elevated 
and gravelled terrace. 

It has already been said that this ancient and 
historical building stood against the bosom of the 
mountains, at the distance of a short league be- 
hind the town of Vevey. All the elevations of 
this region are so many spurs of the same vast 
pile, and that on which Blonay has now been seat- 
ed from the earliest period of the middle ages be- 
longs to ihat particular line of rocky ramparts, 
which separates the Valais from the centre can- 
tons of the confederation of Switzerland, and which 
is commonly known as the range of the Oberland 
Alps. This line of snow-crowned rocks terminates 
in perpendicular precipices on the very margin of 
the Leman, and forms, on the side of the lake, 
a part of that magnificent setting which renders 
the south-eastern horn of its crescent so wonder- 
fully beautiful. The upright natural wall that 
overhangs Villeneuve and Chillon stretches along 
the verge of the water, barely leaving room for a 



THE HEADSMAN. 159 

carriage-road, with here and there a cottage 
at its base, for the distance of two leagues, when 
it diverges from the course of the lake, and, 
withdrawing inland, it is finally lost among the 
minor eminences of Fribourg. Every one has ob- 
served those sloping declivities, composed of the 
washings of torrents, the debris of precipices, and 
what may be termed the constant drippings of per- 
pendicular eminencies, and which lie like broad 
buttresses at their feet, forming a sort of foundation 
or basement for the superincumbent mass. Among 
the Alps, where nature has acted on so sublime a 
scale, and where all the proportions are duly ob- 
served, these debris of the high mountains fre- 
quently contain villages and towns, or form vast 
fields, vineyards, and pasturages, according to 
their elevation or their exposure towards the sun. 
It may be questioned, in strict geology, whether 
the variegated acclivity that surrounds Yevey, 
rich in villages and vines, hamlets and castles, has 
been thus formed, or whether the natural convul- 
sions which expelled^ the upper rocks from the 
crust of the earth left their bases in the present 
broken and beautiful forms; but the fact is not 
important to the effect, which is that just named, 
and which gives to these vast ranges of rock se- 
condary and fertile bases, that, in other regions, 
would be termed mountains of themselves. 

The castle and family of Blonay, for both still 
exist, are among the oldest of Vaud. A square, 
rude tower, based upon a foundation of rock, one 
of those ragged masses that thrust their naked 
heads occasionally through the soil of the declivity, 
was the commencement of the hold. Other edifices 
have been reared around this nucleus in dififerent 
ages, until the whole presents one of those pecu- 
liar and picturesque piles, that ornament so many 



160 THE HEADSMAN. 

both of the savage and of the softer sites of Swit- 
zerland. 

The terrace towards which Adelheid and her 
father advanced was an irregular walk, shaded by- 
venerable trees that had been raised near the prin- 
cipal or the carriage gate of the castle, on a ledge 
of those rocks that form the foundation of the 
buildings themselves. It had its parapet walls, its 
seats, its artificial soil, and its gravelled allees, as 
is usual with these antiquated ornaments ; but it 
also had, what is better than these, one of the most 
sublime and lovely views that ever greeted human 
eyes. Beneath it lay the undulating and teeming 
declivity, rich in vines, and carpeted with sward, 
here dotted by hamlets, there park-like and rural 
with forest trees, while there was no quarter that 
did not show the roof of a chateau or the tower 
of some rural church. There is little of magnifi- 
cence in Swiss architecture, which never much 
surpasses, and is, perhaps, generally inferior to our 
own ; but the beauty and quaintness of the sites, 
the great variety of the surfaces, the hill-sides, and 
the purity of the atmosphere, supply charms that 
are peculiar to the country. Vevey lay at the wa- 
ter-side, many hundred feet lower, and seemingly 
on a narrow strand, though in truth enjoying am- 
ple space ; while the houses of St. Saphorin, Cor- 
sier, Montreux, and of a dozen more villages, were 
clustered together, like so many of the compact 
habitations of wasps stuck against the mountains. 
But the principal charm was in the Leman. One 
who had never witnessed the lake in its fury, could 
not conceive the possibility of danger in the tran- 
quil shining sheet that was now spread like a liquid 
nmirror, for leagues, beneath the eye. Some six or 
seven barks were in view, their sails drooping in 
neghgent forms, as if disposed expressly to become 
models for the artist, their yards inclining as chance 



THJS HEADSMAN. 161 

had cast them, and their hulls looming large, to 
complete the picture. To these near objects must 
be added the distant view, which extended to the 
Jura in one direction, and which in the other was 
bounded by the frontiers of Italy, whose aerial 
limits were to be tradfcl in that region which ap- 
pears to belong neither to heaven nor to earth, the 
abode of eternal frosts. The Rhone was shining, 
in spots, among the meadows of the Valais, for 
the elevation of the castle admitted of its being 
seen, and Adeiheid endeavored to trace among the 
mazes of the mountains the valleys which led to 
those sunny countries, towards which they jour- 
neyed. 

The sensations of*both father and daughter, 
when they came beneath the leafy canopy of the 
terrace, were tiiose of mute delight. It was evi- 
dent, by the expression of their countenances, that 
they were in a favorable mood to receive plea- 
surable impressions; for the face of each was full 
of that quiet happiness which succeeds sudden and 
lively joy. Adeiheid had been weeping; but, judg- 
ing from the radiance of her eyes, the healthful 
and brightening bloom of her cheeks, and the 
strugghng smiles that played about her ripe lips, 
the tears had been sweet, rather than painful. 
Though still betraying enough of physical frailty 
to keep aliv^e the concern of all who loved her, 
there was a change for the better in her appear- 
ance, which was so sensible as to strike the least 
observant of those who lived in daily communica- 
tion with the invalid. 

" If pure and mild air, a sunny sky, and ravish- 
ing scenery, be what they seek who cross the Alps, 
my father," said Adeiheid, after they had stood a 
moment, gazing at the magnificent panorama, 
" why should the Swiss quit his native land t Is 
02 



16S THE HEADSMAN'. 

there in Italy aught more soft, more winning, or 
more heahhful, than this ?' 

" This spot has often been called the Italy of our 
mountains. The fig ripens near yonder village of 
Montreux, and, open to the morning sun while it 
is sheltered by the precipicSSr above, the whole of 
that shore well deserves its happy reputation. Still 
they whose spirits require diversion, and whose 
constitutions need support, generally prefer to go 
into countries where the mind has more occupa- 
tion, and where a greater variety of employments 
help the climate and nature to complete the cure." 

" But thou forgettest, father, it is agreed between 
us that I am now to become strong, and active, 
and laughing, as we used to%e at Willading, when 
I first grew into womanhood." 

" If I could but see those days again, darling, 
my own closing hours would be calm as those of 
a saint — though Heaven knows I have little pre- 
tension to that blessed character in any other par- 
ticular." 

" Dost thou not count a quiet conscience and a 
sure hope as something, father ?' 

" Have it as thou wilt, girl. Make a saint of 
me, or a bishop, or a hermit, if thou wilt ; the only 
reward I ask is, to see thee smiling and happy, as 
thou never failedst to be during the first eighteen 
years of thy life. Had I foreseen that thou wert 
to return from my good sister so little like thyself, 
I would have forbidden the visit, much as I love 
her, and all that are her's. But the wisest of us 
are helpless mortals, and scarce know our own 
wants from hour to hour. Thou saidst, I think, 
that this brave Sigismund honestly declared his 
belief that my consent could nev^er be given to one 
who had so little to boast of, in the way of birth 
and fortune? There was, at least, good sense, and 



THE HEADSMABf* 163 

modesty, and right feeling, in the doubt, but he 
should have thought better of my heart." 

" He said this ;" returned Adelheid, in a timid 
and slightly trembling voice, though it was quite 
apparent by the confiding expression of her eye, 
that she had no longer^piy ^secret from her parent. 
" He had too much honor to wish to win the daugh- 
ter of a noble without the knowledge and appro- 
bation of her friends." 

"That the boy should love thee, Adelheid, is 
natural; it is an additional proof of his own merit 
— but that he should distrust my affection and jus- 
tice is an offence that I can scarce forgive. What 
are ancestry and wealth to thy happiness ?" 

" Thou forget'st, deair sir, he is yet to learn that 
my happiness, in any measure, depends on his." 

Adelheid spoke quickly and with warmth. 

" He knew I was a father and that thou art an 
only child ; one of his good sense and right way 
of thinking should have better understood the feel- 
ings of a man in my situation, than to doubt his 
natural affection." 

" As he has never been the parent of an only 
daughter, father," answered the smiling Adelheid, 
for, in her present mood, smiles came easily, " he 
may not have felt or anticipated all that thou 
imagin'st. He knew the prejudices of the world 
on the subject of noble blood, and they are few in- 
deed, that, having much, are disposed to part with 
it to him who hath little." 

" The lad reasoned more Hke an old miser than 
a young soldier, and I have a great mind to let 
him feel my displeasure for thinking so meanly of 
me. Have we not Willading, w^ith all its fair lands, 
besides our rights in the city, that w^e need go beg- 
ging money of others, like needy mendicants! 
Thou hast been in the conspiracy against my 



* 



164 THE HEADSMAN* 

character, girl, or such a fear could'not have given 
either uneasiness for a moment." 

" I never thought, father, that thou would'st 
reject him on account of poverty, for I knev^^ our 
own means sufficient for all our own wants ; but I 
did believe that he who o^ld not boast the privi- 
leges of nobility might fail to gain thy favor." 

" Are we not a republic ? — is not the right of the 
biirgerschaft the one essential right in Berne — why 
should I raise obstacles about that on which the 
laws are silent ?" 

Adelheid listened, as a female of her years would 
be apt to listen to words so grateful, with a charmed 
ear ; and yet she shook her head, in a way to ex- 
press an incredulity that was not altogether free 
from apprehension. 

" For thy generous forgetfulness of old opinions 
in behalf of my happiness, dearest father," she re- 
sumed, the tears starting unbidden to her thought- 
ful blue eye, " I thank thee fervently. It is true 
that we are inhabitants of a republic, but we are 
not the less noble." 

'' Dost thou turn against thyself, and hunt up 
reasons why I should not do that which thou hast 
just acknowledged to be so necessary to prevent 
thee from following thy brothers and sisters to 
their early graves ?" 

The blood rushed in a torrent to the face of 
Adelheid, for though, weeping and in the moment 
of tender confidence which succeeded her thanks- 
givings for the baron's safety, she had thrown her- 
self on his bosom, and confessed that the hopeless- 
ness of the sentiments with which she met the de- 
clared love of Sigismund was the true cause of the 
apparent malady that had so much alarmed her 
friends, the words which had flowed spontaneously 
from her heart, in so tender a scene, had never ap- 
peared to her to convey a meanmg so strong, or 



THE HEADSMAN. 



165 



one so wounding to virgin-pride, as that which her 
father, in the strength of his mascuHne habits, had 
now given them. 

" In God's mercy, father, I shall live, whether 
united to Sigismund or not, to smooth thine own 
decline and to bless thy old age. A pious daugh 
ter will never be torn so cruelly from one to whom 
she is the last and only stay. I may mourn this 
disappointment, and foolishly wish, perhaps, it 
might have been otherwise ; but ours is not a house 
of which the maidens die for their inclinations in 
favor of any youths, however deserving!" 

"Noble or '^simple," added the baron, laughing, 
for he saw that his daughter spoke in sudden pique, 
rather than from her excellent heart. Adelheid, 
whose good sense, and quick recollections, instant- 
ly showed her the weakness of this little display of 
female feeling, laughed faintly in her turn, though 
she repeated his words as if to give still more 
emphasis to her own. 

"This will not do, my daughter. They who 
profess the republican doctrine, should not be too 
rigid in their constructions of privileges. If Sigis- 
mund be not noble, it will not be difficult to obtain 
for him that honorable distinction, and, in failure 
of male line, he may bear the name and sustain the 
honors of our family. In any case he will become 
of the biirgerschaft, and that of itself will be all that 
is required in Berne." 

" In Berne, father," returned Adelheid, who had 
so far forgotten the recent movement of pride as to 
smile on her fond and indulgent parent, though, 
yielding to the waywardness of the happy, she 
continued to trifle with her own feelings — " it is 
true. The biirgerschaft will be sufficient for all 
the purposes of office and political privileges, but 
will it suffice for the opinions of our equals, for the 
^prejudices of society, or for your own perfect con 



166 THE HEADSMAN. 

tentment, when the freshness of gratitude shall 
have passed ?" 

" Thou puttest these questions, girl, as if employ- 
ed to defeat thine own cause — Dost not truly love 
the boy, after all V 

" On this subject, I have spoken sincerely and as 
became thy child," frankly returned Adelheid. 
" He saved my life from imminent peril, as he has 
now saved thine, and although my aunt, fearful of 
thy displeasure, would not that thou should'st hear 
the tale, her prohibition could not prevent grati- 
tude from having its way. I have told thee that 
Sigismund has declared his feelings, although he 
nobly abstained from even asking a return, and I 
should not have been my mother's child, could I 
have remained entirely indifferent to so much worth 
united to a service so great. What I have said of 
our prejudices is, then, rather for your reflection, 
dearest sir, than for myself I have thought much 
of all this, and am ready to make any sacrifice to 
pride, and to bear all the remarks of the world, in 
order to discharge a debt to one to whom I owe 
so much. But, while it is natural, perhaps una- 
voidable, that I should feel thus, thou art not ne- 
cessarily to forget the other claims upon thee. It 
is true that, in one sense, we are all to each other, 
but there is a tyrant that will scarce let any escape 
from his reign ; I mean opinion. Let us then not 
deceive ourselves — though we of Berne affect the 
republic, and speak much of liberty, it is a small 
state, and the influence of those that are larger and 
more powerful among our neighbors rules in every 
thing that touches opinion. A noble is as much a 
noble in Berne, in all but what the law bestows, as 
he is in the Empire — and thou knowest we come 
of the German root, which has struck deep into 
these prejudices." 

The Baron de Willading had been much accua- 



THE HEADSMAN. 167 

tomed to defer to the superior mind and more cul- 
tivated understanding of his daughter, who, in the 
retirement of her father's castle, had read and re- 
flected far more than her years would have proba- 
bly permitted in the busier scenes of the world. 
He felt the justice of her remark, and they had 
walked the entire length of the terrace in profound 
silence, before he could summon the ideas neces- 
sary to make a suitable answer. 

" The truth of what thou sayest, is not to be de- 
nied," he at length said, " but it may be palliated. 
I have many friends in the German courts, and 
favors may be had : letters of nobility will give 
the youth the station he wants, after which he can 
claim thy hand without offence to any opinions, 
whether of Berne or elsewhere." 

" I doubt if Sigismund will willingly become a 
party to this expedient. Our own nobility is of 
ancient origin ; it dates from a period anterior to 
the existence of Berne as a city, and is much older 
than our institutions. I remember to have heard 
him say, that when a people refuse to bestow these 
distinctions themselves, their citizens can never 
receive them from others without a loss of digni- 
ty and character, and one of his moral firmness 
might hesitate to do what he thinks wrong for a 
boon so worthless as that we offer." 

" By the soul of William Tell ! should the un- 
known peasant dare But he is a brave boy, 

and twice has he done the last service to my race! 
I love him, Adelheid, little less than thyself; and 
we will win him over to our purpose gently, and 
by degrees. A maiden of thy beauty and years, 
to say nothing of thy other qualities, thy name, 
the lands of Willading, and the rights of Berne, 
are matters, after all, not to be lightly refused by 
a nameless soldier, who hath naught — " 



168 THE HEADSMAN. 

*" But his courage, his virtues, his modesty, and 
his excellent sense, father !" 

"Thou wilt not let me have the naked satisfac- 
tion of vaunting my own wares ! I see Gaetano 
Grimaldi making signs at his window, as if he 
were about to come forth : go thou to thy cham- 
ber, that I may discourse of this troublesome mat- 
ter with that excellent friend; in good season thou 
shalt know the result." 

Adelheid kissed the hand that she held in her 
own, and left him with a thoughtful air. As she 
descended from the terrace, it was not with the 
same elastic step as she had come up half an hour 
before. 

Early deprived of her motlier, this strong-mind- 
ed but delicate girl had long been accustomed to 
make her father a confidant of all her hopes, 
thoughts, and pictures of the future. Owing to 
her peculiar circumstances, she would have had 
less hesitation than is usual to her sex in avowing 
to her parent any of her attachments ; but a dread 
that the declaration might conduce to his unhappi- 
ness, without in any manner favoring her own 
cause, had hitherto kept her silent. Her acquaint- 
ance with Sigismund had been long and intimate. 
Rooted esteem and deep respect lay at the bottom 
of her sentiments, which were, however, so lively 
as to have chased the rose from hor cheek in the 
endeavor to forget them, and to have led her sen- 
sitive father to apprehend that she was suffering 
under that premature decay which had already 
robbed him of his other children. There was in 
truth no serious ground for this apprehension, so 
natural to one in the place of the Baron de Wil- 
lading ; for, until thought and reflection paled her 
cheek, a m.ore blooming maiden than Adelheid, or 
one that united more perfect health with feminine 
delicacy, did not dwell among her native moun- 



THE HEADSMAN. 169 

tains. She had quietly consented to the ItaHan 
journey, in the expectation that it might serve to 
divert her mind from brooding over what she had 
long considered hopeless, and w^ith the natural de- 
sire to see lands so celebrated, but not under any 
mistaken opinions of her own situation. The "pres- 
ence of Sigismund, so far as she was concerned, 
was purely accidental, although she could not pre- 
vent the pleasing idea from obtruding — an idea so 
grateful to her womanly affections and maiden 
pride — that the young soldier, who was in the ser- 
vice of Austria, and who had become known to 
her in one of his frequent visits to his native land, 
had gladly seized this favorable occasion to return 
to his colors. Circumstances, which it is not ne- 
cessary to recount, had enabled Adelheid to make 
the youth acquainted with her father, though the 
interdictions of her aunt, whose imprudence had 
led to the accident which nearly proved so fatal, 
and from whose consequences she had been saved 
by Sigismund, prevented her from explaining all 
the causes she had for showing him respect and 
esteem. Perhaps the manner in which this young 
and imaginative though sensible girl was compel- 
led to smother a portion of her feelings gave them 
intensity, and hastened that transition of sentiment 
from gratitude to affection, which, in another case, 
might have only been produced by a more open 
and prolonged association. As it was, she scarcely 
knew herself how irretrievably her happiness was 
bound up in that of Sigismund, though she had so 
long cherished his image in most of her day- 
dreams, and had unconsciously admitted his influ- 
ence over her mind and hopes, until she learned 
that they were reciprocated. 

The Signer Grimaldi appeared on one end of 
the terrace, as Adelheid de Willading descended 
at the other. The old nobles had separated late 

Vol. I. P 



170 THE HEADSMAN. 

on the previous night, after a private and confiden- 
tial communication that had shaken the soul of the 
Italian, and drawn strong and sincere manifesta- 
tions of sympathy from his friend. Though so 
prone to sudden shades of melancholy, there was 
a strong touch of the humorous in the native char- 
acter of the Genoese, which came so quick upon 
his more painful recollection, as greatly to relieve 
their weight, and to render him, in appearance at 
least, a happy, while the truth would have shown 
that he was a sorrowing, man. He had been 
making his orisons with a grateful heart, and he 
now came forth into the genial mountain air, like 
one who had relieved his conscience of a heavy 
debt. Like most laymen of the Catholic persua- 
sion, he thought himself no longer bound to main- 
tain a grave and mortified exterior, when worship 
and penitence were duly observed, and he joined 
his friend with a cheerfulness of air and voice that 
an ascetic, or a puritan, might have attributed to 
levity, after the scenes through which he had so 
lately passed. 

*' The Virgin and San Francesco keep thee in 
mind, old friend !" said the Signor Grimaldi, cor- 
dially kissing the two cheeks of the Baron de 
Willading. " We both have reason to remember 
their care, though, heretic as thou art, I doubt not 
thou hast already found some other mediators to 
thank, that we now stand on this solid terrace of 
the Signor de Blonay, instead of being worthless 
clay at the bottom of yonder treacherous lake." 

" I thank God for this, as for all his mercies — 
for thy life, Gaetano, as well as for mine own." 

" Thou art right, thou art right, good Melchior ; 
'twas no affair for any but Him who holds the uni- 
verse in the hollow of his hand, in good faith, for 
a minute later would have gathered both with our 
fathers. Still thou wilt permit me, Cathohc as I 



THE HEADSMAN. 171 

am, to remember the intercessors on whom I called 
in the moment of extremity." 

" This is a subject on which we have never 
agreed, and on which we probably never shall," 
answered the Bernese, with somewhat of the reserve 
of one conscious of a stronger dissidence than he 
wished to express, as they turned and commenced 
their walk up and down the terrace, " though I 
believe it is the only matter of difference that ever 
existed between us." 

" Is it not extraordinary," returned the Genoese, 
" that men should consort together in good and 
evil, bleed for each other, love each other, do all 
acts of kindness to each other, as thou and I have 
done, Melchior, nay, be in the last extremity, and 
feel more agony for the friend than for one's self, 
and yet entertain such opinions of their respective 
creeds, as to fancy the unbeliever in the devil's 
claws all this time, and to entertain a latent dis- 
trust that the very soul which, in all other matters, 
is deemed so noble and excellent, is to be everlast- 
ingly damned for the want of certain opinions and 
formalities that we ourselves have been taught to 
think essential ?" 

" To tell thee the truth," returned the Swiss, 
rubbing his forehead like a man who wished to 
brighten up his ideas, as one would brighten old 
silver, by friction ; " this subject, as thou well 
knowest, is not my strong side. Luther and Cal- 
vin, with other sages, discovered that it was weak- 
ness to submit to dogmas, without close exami- 
nation, merely because they were venerable, and 
they winnowed the wheat from the chaff. This 
we call a reform. It is enough for me that men 
so wise were satisfied with their researches and 
changes, and I feel little inclination to disturb a 
decision that has now received the sanction of 
nearly two centuries of practice. To be plain 



172 THE HEADSMAN. 

with thee, I hold it discreet to reverence the 
opinions of my fathers." 

" Though it would seem not of thy grandfathers," 
said the Italian, drily, but in perfect good humor. 
" By San Francesco ! thou wouldst have made a 
worthy cardinal, had chance brought thee into the 
world fifty leagues farther south, or west, or east. 
But this is the way with the world, whether it be 
your Turk, your Hindoo, or your Lutheran, and I 
fear it is much the same with the children of St. 
Peter too. Each has his arguments for faith, or 
politics, or any interest that may be named, which 
he uses like a hammer to knock down the bricks 
of his opponent's reasons, and when he finds him- 
self in the other's inlrenchments, why he gathers 
together the scattered materials in order to build 
a wall for his own protection. Then what was 
oppression yesterday is justifiable defence to-day ; 
fanaticism becomes logic ; and credulity and pliant 
submission get, in two centuries, to be deference 
to the venerable opinion of our fathers ! But let it 
go — thou wert speaking of thanking God, and in 
that, Roman though I am, I fervently and devoutly 
join with or without saints' intercession." 

The honest baron did not like his friend's allu- 
sions, though they were much too subtle for his 
ready comprehension, for the intellect of the Swiss 
was a little frosted by constant residence among 
snows and in full view of glaciers, and it wanted 
the volatile play of the Genoese's fancy, which 
was apt to expand like air rarefied by the warmth 
of the sun. This difl!erence of temperament, how- 
ever, so far from lessening their mutual kindness, 
was, most probably, the real cause of its existence, 
since it is well known that friendship, like love, is 
more apt to be generated by qualities that vary a 
little from our own than by a perfect homogeneity 
of character and disposition, which is more liable 



THE HEADSMAN". ^ 173 

to give birth to rivalry and contention, than when 
each party has some distinct capital of his own 
on which to adventure, and with which to keep 
alive the interest of him who, in that particular 
feature, may be but indifferently provided. All 
that is required for a perfect community of feeling 
is a mutual recognition of, and a common respect 
for, certain great moral rules, without which there 
can exist no esteem between the upright. The al- 
liance of knaves depends on motives so hackneyed 
and obvious, that we abstain from any illustration 
of its principle as a work of supererogation. The 
Signor Grimaldi and Melchior de Willading were 
both very upright and justly-minded men, as men 
go, in intention at least, and their opposite pecu- 
Harities and opinions had served, during hot youth, 
to keep alive the interest of their communications, 
and were not likely, now that time had mellowed 
their feelings and brought so many recollections 
to strengthen the tie, to overturn what they had 
been originally the principal instruments in creating. 

" Of thy readiness to thank God, I have never 
doubted," answered the baron, when his friend had 
ended the remark just recorded, "but we know 
that his favors are commonly shown to us here 
below by means of human instruments. Ought 
we not, therefore, to manifest another sort of grat- 
itude in favor of the individual who w^as so ser- 
viceable in last night's gust ?" 

" Thou meanest my untractable countryman ? 1 
have bethought me much since we separated of his 
singular refusal, and hope still to find the means 
of conquering his obstinacy." 

" I hope thou may'st succeed, and thou well 

know'st that I am always to be counted on as an 

auxiliary. But he was not in my thoughts at the 

instant; there is still another who nobly risked 

P2 



174 THE HEADSMAN. 

more than the mariner in our behalf, since he 
risked hfe." 

" This is beyond question, and I have akeady 
reflected much on the means of doing him good. 
He is a soldier of fortune, I learn, and if he will 
take service in Genoa, I will charge myself with 
the care of his preferment. Trouble not thyself, 
therefore, concerning the fortunes of young Sigis- 
mund ; thou knowest my means, and canst not 
doubt my will." 

The baron cleared his throat, for he had a se- 
cret reluctance to reveal his own favorable inten- 
tions towards the young man, the last lingering 
feeling of worldly pride, and the consequence of 
prejudices which were then universal, and which 
are even now far from being extinct. A vivid pic- 
ture of the horrors of the past night luckily flashed 
across his mind, and the good genius of his young 
preserver triumphed. 

" Thou knowest the youth is a Swiss," he said, 
" and, in virtue of the tie of country, I claim at 
least an equal right to do him good." 

" We will not quarrel for precedence in this 
matter, but thou wilt do well to remember that I 
possess especial means to push his interests ; — 
means that thou canst not by possibility use." 

" That is not proved ;" interrupted the Baron 
de Willading. " I have not thy particular station, 
it is true, Signor Gaetano, nor thy political power, 
nor thy princely fortune ; but, poor as T am in 
these, there is a boon in my keeping that is worth 
them all, and w^hich will be more acceptable to 
the boy, or I much mistake his mettle, than any 
favors that thou hast named or canst name." 

The Signor Grimaldi had pursued his walk, with 
eyes thoughtfully fastened on the ground ; but he 
now raised them, in surprise, to the countenance 
of his friend, as if to ask an explanation. The 



THE HEADSMAN. l*?.^ 

baron was not only committed by what had es- 
caped him, but he was w'arming with opposition, 
for the best may frequently do very excellent things, 
under the influence of motives of but a very in- 
different aspect. 

" Thou knowest I have a daughter," resumed 
the Swiss firmly, determined to break the ice at 
once, and expose a decision which he feared his 
friend might deem a weakness. 

" Thou hast ; and a fairer, or a modester, or a 
tenderer, and yet, unless my judgment err, a firmer 
at need, is not to be found among all the excellent 
of her excellent sex. But thou w'ouldst scarce 
think of bestowing Adelheid in reward for such a 
service on one so little known, or without her wishes 
being consulted?" 

" Girls of Adelheid's birth and breeding are ever 
ready to do what is micet to maintain the honor of 
their families. I deem gratitude to be a debt that 
must not stand long uncancelled against the name 
of Willading." 

The Genoese looked grave, and it was evident 
he listened to his friend with something like dis- 
pleasure. 

" We wiio have so nearly passed through life, 
good Melchior," he said, " should know its diffi- 
culties and its hazards. The way is w^eary, and 
it has need of all the solace that affection and a 
community of feehng can yield to lighten. its cares. 
I have never likod this heartless manner of traffick- 
ing in the tenderest ties, to uphold a failing line or 
a failing fortune ; and better it were that Adelheid 
should pass her days unwooed in thy ancient cas- 
tle, than give her hand, under any sudden impulse 
of sentiment, not less than under a cold calcula- 
tion of interest. Such a girl, my friend, is not to 
be bestowed without much care and reflection." 

" By the mass ! to use one of thine own favorite 



176 THE HEADSMAN. 

oaths, I wonder to hear thee talk thus ! — thou, whom 
I knew a hot-blooded Italian, jealous as a Turk, 
and maintaining at thy rapier's point that women 
were like the steel of thy sword, so easily tarnished 
by rust, or evil breath, or neglect, that no father 
or brother could be easy on the score of honor, 
until the last of his name was well wedded, and 
that, too, to such as the wisdom of her advisers 
should choose ! I remember thee once saying thou 
couldst not sleep soundly till thy sister was a wife 
or a nun." 

" This was the language of boyhood and thought- 
less youth, and bitterly rebuked have I been for 
having used it. I wived a beauteous and noble 
virgin, de Willading ; but I much fear that, while 
my fair conduct in her behalf won her respect and 
esteem, I was too late to win her love. It is a fear- 
ful thing to enter on the solemn and grave ties of 
married life, without enlisting in the cause of hap- 
piness the support of the judgment, the fancy, the 
tastes, with the feelings that are dependent on 
them, and, more than all, those wayward inclina- 
tions, whose workings too often baffle human fore- 
sight. If the hopes of the ardent and generous 
themselves are deceived in the uncertain lottery of 
wedlock, the victim will struggle hard to maintain 
the delusion ; but when the calculations of others 
are parent to the evil, a natural inducement, that 
comes of the devil I fear, prompts us to aggravate, 
instead of striving to lessen, the evil." 

*' Thou dost not speak of wedlock as one who 
found the condition happy, poor Gaetano?" 

" I have told thee what I fear was but too true," 
returned the Genoese, with a heavy sigh. " My 
birth, vast means, and I trust a fair name, induced 
the kinsmen of my wife to urge her to a union, 
that I have since had reason to fear her feelings 
did not lead her to form. I had a terrible ally too 



THE HEADSMAN*. 177 

in the acknowledged unworthiness of him who had 
captivated her young fancy, and whom, as age 
brought reflection, her reason condemned. I was 
accepted, therefore, as a cure to a bleeding heart 
and broken peace, and my office, at the best, was 
not such as a good man could desire, or a proud 
man tolerate. The unhappy Angiolina died in giv- 
ing birth to her first child, the unhappy son of 
whom I have told thee so much. She found peace 
at last in the grave !" 

" Thou hadst not time to give thy manly tender- 
ness and noble qualities an opportunity ; else, my 
life on it, she would have come to love thee, Gae- 
tano, as all love thee who know thee !" returned 
the baron, warmly. 

" Thanks, my kind friend ; but beware of ma- 
king marriage a mere convenience. There may 
be folly in calling each truant inclination that deep 
sentiment and secret sympathy which firmly knits 
heart to heart, and doubtless a common fortune 
may bind the worldly-minded together ; but this is 
not the holy union which keeps noble qualhies in a 
family, and which fortifies against the seductions 
of a world that is already too strong for honesty. 
I remember to have heard from one that under- 
stood his fellow-creatures well, that marriages of 
mere propriety tend to rob woman of her greatest 
charm, that of superiority to the vulgar feeling of 
worldly calculations, and that all communities in 
which they prevail become, of necessity, selfish 
beyond the natural limits, and eventually corrupt." 

" This may be true ; — but Adelheid loves the 
youth." 

" Ha! This changes the complexion of the affair. 
How dost thou know this ?' 

" From her own lips. The secret escaped her, 
under the warmth and sincerity of feeling that the 
late events so uaturallv excited." 



178 THE HEADSMAiy. 

" And Sigismnnd ! — he has thy approbation ? — 
for I will not suppose that one like thy daughter 
yielded her affections unsolicited." 

" He has — that is — he has. There is what the 
world will be apt to call an obstacle, but it shall 
count for nothing with me. The youth is not 
noble." 

" The objection is serious, my honest friend. It 
is not wise to tax human infirmity too much, where 
there is sufficient to endure from causes that can- 
not be removed. Wedlock is a precarious experi- 
ment, and all unusual motives for disgust should 
be cautiously avoided. — I would he were noble." 

" The difficulty shall be removed by the Empe- 
ror's favor. Thou hast princes in Italy, too, that 
might be prevailed on to do us this grace, at need ?" 

" What is the youth's origin and history, and by 
what means has a daughter of thine been placed 
in a situation to love one that is simply born ?" 

" Sigismund is a Swiss, and of a family of Ber- 
nejie burghers, I should think, though, to confess 
the truth, I know little more than that he has pass- 
ed several years in foreign service, and that he 
saved my daughter's hfe from one of our moun- 
tain accidents, some two years since, as he has 
now saved thine and mine. My sister, near whose 
castle the acquaintance commenced, permitted the 
intercourse, which it would now be too late to 
think of prohibiting. And, to speak honestly, I be- 
gin to rejoice the boy is what he is, in order that 
our readiness to receive him to our arms may be 
the more apparent. If the young fellow were the 
equal of Adelheid in other things, as he is in per- 
son and character, he would have too much in his 
favor. — No, by the faith of Calvin ! — him whom 
thou stylest a heretic — I think I rejoice that the 
boy is not noble !" 

" Have it as thou wilt," returned the Genoese, 



THE HEADSMAN. 179 

whose countenance continued to express distrust 
and thought, for his own experience had made him 
wary on the subject of doubtful or ill-assorted alli- 
ances ; " let his origin be what it may, he shall not 
need gold. I charge myself with seeing that the 
lands of Willading shall be fairly balanced : and 
here comes our hospitable host to be witness of 
the pledge." 

Roger de Blonay advanced upon the terrace to 
greet his guests, a^he Signer Grimaldi concluded. 
The three old men continued their walk for an hour 
longer, discussing the fortunes of the young pair, 
for Melchior de Willading was as little disposed 
to make a secret of his intentions with one of his 
friends as with the other. 



CHAPTER X. 

-But I have not the time to pause 



Upon these gewgaws of the heart 

Werner. 

Though the word castle is of common use in 
Europe, as applied to ancient baronial edifices, the 
thing itself is very diflerent in style, extent, and 
cost, in different countries. Security, united to 
dignity and the means of accommodating a train 
of followers suited to the means of the noble, being 
the common object, the position and defences of 
the place necessarily varied according to the gen- 
eral aspect of the region in which it stood. Thus 
ditches and other broad expanses of water were 
much depended on in all low countries, as in Flan- 
ders, Holland, parts of Germany, and much of 
France ; while hills, spurs of mountains, and more 
especially the summits of conical rocks, were 
sought in Switzerland, Italy, and wherever else 



180 THE HEADSMAN. 

these natural means of protection could readily be 
found. Other circumstances, such as climate, 
wealth, the habits of a people, and the nature of 
the feudal rights, also served greatly to modify the 
appearance and extent of the building. The ancient 
hold in Switzerland was originally little more than 
a square sohd tower, perched upon a rock, with 
turrets at its angles. Proof against fire from with- 
out, it had ladders to mount from iloor to floor, 
and often contained its beds in the deep recesses of 
the windows, or in alcoves wrought in the massive 
wall. As greater security or greater means enabled, 
offices and constructions of more importance arose 
around its base, inclosing a court. These neces- 
sarily followed the formation of the rock, until, in 
time, the confused and inartificial piles, which are 
now seen mouldering on so many of the minor 
spurs of the Alps, were created. 

As is usual in all ancient holds, the Rittersaal — 
the Salle des Chevaliers — or the knights' hall, of 
Blonay, as it is difierently called in difterent Ian- 
guages, was both the largest and the most labo- 
riously decorated apartment of the edifice. It was 
no longer in the rude gaol-like keep that grew, as 
it were, from the living rock, on which it had been 
reared with so much skill as to render it difficult to 
ascertain where nature ceased and art commenced; 
but it had been transferred, a century before the 
occurrences related in our tale, to a more modern 
portion of the buildings that formed the south-east- 
ern angle of the whole construction. The room 
was spacious, square, simple, for such is the fashion 
of the country, and lighted by windows that looked 
on one side towards Valais, and on the other over 
the whole of the irregular, but lovely declivity, to 
the margin of the Leman, and along that beautiful 
sheet, embracing hamlet, village, city, castle, and 
purple mountain, until the view was limited by the 



THE HEADSMAN. 181 

hazy Jura. The window on the latter side of the 
knights' hall, had an iron balcony at a giddy height 
from the ground, and in this airy look-out Adel- 
heid had taken her seat, when, after quitting her 
father, she mounted to the apartment common to 
all the guests of the castle. 

We have already alluded generally to the per- 
sonal appearance and to the moral qualities of the 
Baron de Willading's daughter, but we now con- 
ceive it necessary to make the reader more inti- 
mately acquainted with one who is destined to act 
no mean part in the incidents of our tale. It has 
been said that she was pleasing to the eye, but her 
beauty was of a kind that depended more on ex- 
pression, on a union of character with feminine 
grace, than on the vulgar lines of regularity and 
symmetry. While she had no feature that was de- 
fective, she had none that w^as absolutely faultless, 
though all were combined with so much harmony, 
and the soft expression of the mild blue eye accord- 
ed so well with the gentle play of a sweet mouth, 
that the soul of their owner seemed ready at all 
times to appear through these ingenuous tell-tales 
of her thoughts. Still, maidenly reserve sate in 
constant w^atch over all, and it was when the spec- 
tator thought himself most in communion with her 
spirit, that he most felt its pure and correcting in- 
fluence. Perhaps a cast of high intelligence, of a 
natural power to discriminate, which much sur- 
passed the limited means accorded to females of 
that age, contributed their share to hold those near 
her in respect, and served in some degree as a mild 
and wise repellant, to counteract the attractions of 
her gentleness and candor. In short, one cast un- 
expectedly in her society would not have been 
slow to infer, and he would have decided correct- 
ly, that Adelhejd de Willading was a girl of warm 
and tender affections, of a plavful but regulated 

Vol. I. Q 



182 THE HEADSMAN. 

fancy, of a firm and lofty sense of all her duties, 
whether natural or merely the result of social ob- 
ligations, of melting pity, and yet of a habit and 
quality to think and act for herself, in all those 
cases in which it was fitting for a maiden of her 
condition and years to assume such self-control. 

It was now more than a year since Adelheid had 
become fully sensible of the force of her attach- 
ment for Sigismund Steinbach, and during all that 
time she had struggled hard to overcome a feeling 
which she believed could lead to no happy result. 
The declaration of the young man himself, a decla- 
ration that was extorted involuntarily and in a 
moment of powerful passion, was accompanied by 
an admission of its uselessness and folly, and it 
first opened her eyes to the state of her own feel- 
ings. Though she had Hstened, as all of her sex will 
listen, even when the passion is hopeless, to such 
words coming from lips they love, it was with a 
self-command that enabled her to retain her own 
secret, and with a settled and pious resolution to 
do that which she believed to be her duty to her- 
self, to her father, and to Sigismund. From that 
hour she ceased to see him, unless under circum- 
stances when it would have drawn suspicion on her 
motives to refuse, and while she never appeared to 
forget her heavy obhgations to the youth, she firm- 
ly denied herself the pleasure of even mentioning 
his name when it could be avoided. But of all 
ungrateful and reluctant tasks, that of striving to 
forget is the least likely to succeed. Adelheid was 
sustained only by her sense of duty and the desire 
not to disappoint her father's wishes, to which habit 
and custom had given nearly the force of law with 
maidens of her condition, though her reason and 
judgment no less than her affections were both 
strongly enlisted on the other side. Indeed, with 
the single exception of the general unfitness of a 



THE HEADSMAN. 183 

union between two of unequal stations, there was 
nothing to discredit her choice, if that may be 
termed choice which, after all, was more the result 
of spontaneous feeling and secret sympathy than of 
any other cause, unless it were a certain equivo 
cal reserve, and a manifest uneasiness, whenever 
allusion was made to the early history and to the 
family of the soldier. This sensitiveness on the 
part of Sigismund had been observed and com- 
mented on by others as well as by herself, and it 
had been openly ascribed to the mortification of 
one who had been thrown, by chance, into an in- 
timate association that was much superior to what 
he was entitled to maintain by birth ; a weakness 
but too common, and which few have strength of 
mind to resist or sufficient pride to overcome. 
The intuitive watchfulness of affection, however, 
led Adelheid to a dilTerent conclusion; she saw 
that he never affected to conceal, while with equal 
good taste he abstained from obtrusive allusions to 
the humble nature of his origin, but she also per- 
ceived that there were points of his previous his- 
tory on which he was acutely sensitive, and which 
at first she feared must be attributed to the con- 
sciousness of acts that his clear perception of moral 
truth condemned, and which he could wish forgot- 
ten. For some time Adelheid clung to this dis- 
covery as to a healthful and proper antidote to her 
own truant inclinations, but native rectitude banish- 
ed a suspicion w^hich had no sullicient ground, as 
equally unworthy of them both. The effects of a 
ceaseless mental struggle, and of the fruitlessness 
of her efforts to overcome her tenderness in behalf 
of Sigismund, have been described in the fading of 
her bloom, in the painful solicitude of a counte- 
nance naturally so sweet, and in the settled mel- 
ancholy of her playful and mellow eye. These 
were the real causes of the journey undertaken by 



184 THE HEADSMAN. 

her father, and, in truth, of most of the other 
events which we are about to describe. 

The prospect of the future had undergone a 
sudden change. The color, though more the ef- 
fect of excitement than of returning health — for 
the tide of life, when rudely checked, does not re- 
sume its currents at the first breath of happiness — 
again brightened her cheek and imparted brilHan- 
cy to her looks, and smiles stole easily to those 
lips which had long been growing pallid with anx- 
iety. She leaned forward, from the balcony, and 
never before had the air of her native mountains 
seemed so balmy and healing. At that moment 
the subject of her thoughts appeared on the ver- 
dant declivity, among the luxuriant nut-trees that 
shade the natural lawn of Blonay. He saluted her 
respectfully, and pointed to the glorious panorama 
of the Leman, The heart of Adelheid beat vio- 
lently ; she struggled for an instant with her fears 
and her pride, and then, for the first time in her 
life, she made a signal that she washed him to join 
her. 

Notwithstanding the important service that the 
young soldier had rendered to the daughter of the 
Baron de Willading, and the long intimacy which 
had been its fruit, so great had been the reserve 
she had hitherto maintained, by placing a constant 
restraint on her inclinations, though the simple usa- 
ges of Switzerland permitted greater familiarity of 
intercourse than was elsewhere accorded to maid- 
ens of rank, that Sigismund at first stood rooted to 
the ground, for he could not imagine the waving 
of the hand was meant for him. Adelheid saw 
his embarrassment, and the signal was repeated. 
The young man sprang up the acclivity with the 
rapidity of the wind, and disappeared behind the 
walls of the castle. 

The barrier of reserve, so long and so success- 



TfiE headsman:. 185 

fully observed by Adelheid, was now passed, and 
she felt as if a few short minutes must decide her 
fate. The necessity of making a wide circuit in 
order to enter the court still afforded. a little time 
for reflection, however, and this she endeavored to 
improve by collecting her thoughts and recover- 
ing her self-possession. 

When Sigismund entered the knights' hall, he 
found the maiden still seated near the open window 
of the balcony, pale and serious, but perfectly 
calm, and with such an expression of radiant hap- 
piness in her countenance as he had not seen reign- 
ing in those sweet lineaments for many painful 
months. The first feeling was that of pleasure at 
perceiving how well she bore the alarms and dan- 
gers of the past night. This pleasure he expressed, 
with the frankness admitted by the habits of the 
Germans. 

** Thou wilt not suffer, Adelheid, by the exposure 
on the lake!" he said, studying her face until the 
tell-tale blood stole to her very temples. 

" Agitation of the mind is a good antidote to the 
consequences of bodily exposure. So far from 
suffering by what has passed, I feel stronger to-day 
and better able to endure fatigue, than at any time 
since we came through the gates of Willading. 
This balmy air, to me, seems Italy, and I see no 
necessity to journey farther in search of what they 
said was necessary to my health, agreeable objects 
and a generous sun." 

" You will not cross the St. Bernard !" he ex- 
claimed in a tone of disappointment, 

Adelheid smiled, and he felt encouraged, though 
the sm.ile was ambiguous. Notwithstanding the 
really noble sincerity of the maiden's disposition, 
and her earnest desire to set his heart at ease, na- 
ture, or habit, or education, for we scarcely know 
Q2 



186 THE HEADSMAN. 

to which the weakness ought to be ascribed, tempt- 
ed her to avoid a direct explanation. 

'* Why need one desire aught that is more love- 
ly than this'?" she answered, evasively. " Here is 
a warm air, such a scene as Italy can scarcely 
surpass, and a friendly roof. The experience of 
the last twenty-four hours gives little encourage- 
ment for attempting the St. Bernard, notwithstand- 
ing the fair promises of hospitality and welcome 
that have been so liberally held out by the good 
canon." 

" Thy eye contradicts thy tongue, Adelheid ; thou 
art happy and well enough to use pleasantry to- 
day. For heaven's sake, do not neglect to profit 
by this advantage, however, under a mistaken 
opinion that Blonay is the well-sheltered Pisa. 
When the winter shall arrive, thou wilt see that 
these mountains are still the icy Alps, and the 
winds will w^histle through this crazy castle, as 
they are wont to sing in the naked corridors of 
Willading." 

" We have time before us, and can think of this. 
Thou wilt proceed to Milan, no doubt, as soon as 
the revels of Vevey are ended." 

" The soldier has little choice but duty. " My long 
and frequent leaves of absence of late, — leaves 
that have been liberally granted to me on account 
of important family-concerns, — impose an addition- 
al obligation to be punctual, that I may not seem 
forgetful of favors already enjoyed. Although we 
all owe a heavy debt to nature, our voluntary engage- 
ments have ever seemed to me the most serious." 

Adelheid listened with breathless attention. 
Never before had he uttered the word family, in 
reference to himself, in her presence. The allu- 
sion appeared to have created unpleasant recollec- 
tions in the mind of the young man himself, for 
when he ceased to speak his countenance fell, and 



THE HEADSMAN. 187 

he even appeared to be fast forgetting the presence 
of his fair companion. The latter turned sensi- 
tively from a subject which she saw gave him 
pain, and endeavored to call his thoughts to other 
things. By an unforeseen fatality, the very expe- 
dient adopted hastened the explanation she would 
now have given so much to postpone. 

** My father has often extolled the site of the 
Baron de Blonay's castle," said Adelheid, gazing 
from the window, though all the fair objects of the 
view floated unheeded before her eyes: "but, un- 
til now, I have always suspected that friendly feel- 
ing had a great influence on his descriptions." 

"You did him injustice then," answered Sigis- 
mund, advancing to the opening: "of all the an- 
cient holds of Switzerland, Blonay is perhaps enti- 
tled to the palm, for possessing the fairest site. 
Regard yon treacherous lake, Adelheid ! Can we 
fancy that sleeping mirror the same boiling caul- 
dron on which w^e were so lately tossed, helpless 
and nearly hopeless ?" 

" Hopeless, Siglsmund, but for thee !" 

" Thou forgett'st the daring Italian, without 
whose coolness and skill we must indeed have ir- 
redeemably perished." 

" And what would it be to me if the worthless 
bark were saved, while my father and his friend 
were abandoned to the frightful fate that befell the 
patron and that unhappy peasant of Berne !" 

The pulses of the young man beat high, for there 
was a tenderness in the tones of Adelheid to which 
he was unaccustomed, and which, indeed, he had 
never before discovered in her voice. 

" I will go seek this brave mariner," he said, 
trembling lest his self-command should be again 
lost by the seductions of such a communion : — " it 
is time he had more substantial proofs of our 
gratitude." 



188 THE HEADSMAN'. 

" No, Sigismund," returned the maiden firmly, 
and in a way to chain him to the spot, " thou must 
not quit me yet. — I have much to say — much that 
touches my future happiness, and, I am perhaps 
weak enough to beheve, thine." 

Sigismund was bewildered, for the manner of 
his companion, though the color went and came 
in sudden and bright flashes across her pure brows, 
was miraculously calm and full of dignity. He 
took the seat to which she silently pointed, and sat 
motionless as if carved in stone, his faculties ab- 
sorbed in the single sense of hearing. Adelheid 
saw that the crisis was arrived, and that retreat, 
without an appearance of levity that her charac- 
ter and pride equally forbade, was impossible. The 
inbred and perhaps the inherent feehngs of her sex 
would now have caused her again to avoid the ex- 
planation, at least as coming from herself, but that 
she was sustained by a high and holy motive. 

" Thou must find great delight, Sigismund, in 
reflecting on thine own good acts to others. But 
for thee Melchior de Willading would have long 
since been childless ; and but for thee his daughter 
would now be an orphan. The knowledge that 
thou hast had the power and the will to succor 
thy friends must be worth all other knowledge !" 

" As connected with thee, Adelheid, it is," he 
answered in a low voice : " I would not exchange 
the secret happiness of having been of this use to 
thee, and to those thou lovest, for the throne of the 
powerful prince I serve. I have had my secret 
wrested from me already, and it is vain attempting 
to deny it, if I would. Thou knowest I love thee ; 
and, in spite of myself, my heart cherishes the 
weakness. I rather rejoice, than dread, to say, 
that it will cherish it until it cease to feel. This 
is more than I ever intended to repeat to thy mod- 
est ears, which ought not to be wounded by idle 



THE HEADSMAN. 189 

declarations like these, but— thou smilest — Adel- 
heid ! — can thy gentle spirit mock at a hopeless 
passion !" 

" Why should my smile mean mockery V* 

" Adelheid ! — nay — this never can be. One of 
my birth — my ignoble, nameless origin, cannot 
even intimate his wishes, with honor, to a lady 
of thy name and expectations !" 

" Sigismund, it can be. Thou hast not well cal- 
culated either the heart of Adelheid de Willading, 
or the gratitude of her father." 

The young man gazed earnestly at the face of 
the maiden, which, now that she had disburthened 
her soul of its most secret thought, reddened to 
the temples, more however with excitement than 
with shame, for she met his ardent look with the 
mild confidence of innocence and affection. She 
believed, and she had every reason so to believe, 
that her words would give pleasure, and, with the 
jealous watchfulness of true love, she would not 
willingly let a single expression of happiness es- 
cape her. But, instead of the brightening eye, 
and the sudden expression of joy that she expected, 
the young man appeared overwhelmed with feelings 
of a very opposite, and indeed of the most painful, 
character. His breathing was difficult, his look 
wandered, and his lips were convulsed. He passed 
his hand across his brow, like a man in intense 
agony, and a cold perspiration broke out, as by a 
dreadful inward working of the spirit, upon his 
forehead and temples, in large visible drops. 

" Adelheid — dearest Adelheid — thou knowest 
not what thou sayest ! — One like me can never 
become thy husband." 

" Sigismund ! — why this distress ? Speak to me 
— ease thy mind by words. I swear to thee that 
the consent of my father is accompanied on my 



190 THE HEADSMAN. 

part by a willing heart. I love thee, Sigismund — 
wouldst thou have me — can I say more ?" 

The young man gazed at her incredulously, and 
then, as thought became more clear, as one regards 
a much-prized object that is hopelessly lost. He 
shook his head mournfully, and buried his face in 
his hands. 

"Say no more, Adelheid — for my sake — for 
thine ovv^n sake, say no more — in mercy, be silent ! 
Thou never canst be mine — No, no-=-honor forbids 
it ; in thee it would be madness, in me dishonor 
— we can never be united. What fatal weakness 
has kept me near thee — I have long dreaded this — " 

" Dreaded !" 

" Nay, do not repeat my words, — for I scarce 
know what I say. Thou and thy father have 
yielded, in a moment of vivid gratitude, to a gen- 
erous, a noble impulse — but it is not for me to pro- 
fit by the accident that has enabled me to gain this 
advantage. What would all of thy blood, all of 
the republic say, Adelheid, were the noblest born, 
the best endowed, the fairest, gentlest, best maiden 
of the canton, to wed a nameless, houseless, soldier 
of fortune, who has but his sword and some gifts 
of nature to recommend him ? Thy excellent father 
will surely think better of this, and we will speak 
of it no more !" 

" Were I to listen to the common feelings of my 
sex, Sigismund, this reluctance to accept what 
both my father and myself offer might cause me 
to feign displeasure. But, between thee and me, 
there shall be naught but holy truth. My father 
has well weighed all these objections, and he has 
generously decided to forget them. As for me, 
placed in the scale against thy merits, they have 
never weighed at all. If thou canst not become 
noble in order that w^e may be equals, I shall find 
more happiness in descending to thy level, than by 



THE HEADSMAN. 191 

living in heartless misery at the vain height vi^here 
I have been placed by accident." 

" Blessed, ingenuous girl ! — But what does it all 
avail? Our marriage is impossible." 

" If thou knowest of any obstacle that v^^ould 
render it improper for a v^eak, but virtuous girl — " 

"Hold, Adelheid! — do not finish the sentence. 
I am sufficiently humbled — sufficiently debased — 
without this cruel suspicion." 

" Then why is our union impossible — when my 
father not only consents, but wishes it may take 
place?" 

" Give me time for thought — thou shalt know 
all, Adelheid, sooner or later. Yes, this is, at the 
least, due to thy noble frankness. Thou shouldst 
in justice have known it long before." 

Adelheid regarded him in speechless apprehen- 
sion, for the evident and violent physical struggles 
of the young man too fearfully announced the 
mental agony he endured. The color had fled 
from her own face, in which the beauty of expres- 
sion now reigned undisputed mistress ; but it was 
the expression of the mingled sentiments of won- 
der, dread, tenderness, and alarm. He saw that 
his own sufferings were fast communicating them- 
selves to his companion, and, by a powerful effort, 
he so far mastered his emotions as to regain a por- 
tion of his self-command. 

" This explanation has been too heedlessly de- 
layed," he continued : " cost what it may, it shall 
be no longer postponed. Thou wilt not accuse me 
of cruelty, or of dishonest silence, but remember 
the failing of human nature, and pity rather than 
blame a weakness which may be the cause of as 
much future sorrow to thyself, beloved Adelheid, 
as it is now of bitter regret to me. I have never 
concealed from thee that my birth is derived from 
that class which, throughout Europe, is believed 



192 THE HEADSMAN. 

to be of inferior rights to thine own ; on this head, 
I am proud rather than humble, for the invidious 
distinctions of usage have too often provoked 
comparisons, and I have been in situations to know^ 
that the mere accidents of descent bestovi^ neither 
personal excellence, superior courage, nor higher 
intellect. Though human inventions may serve to 
depress the less ifortunate, God has given fixed lim- 
its to the means of men. He that w^ould be greater 
than his kind, and illustrious by unnatural expe- 
dients, must debase others to attain his end. By 
different means than these there is no nobility, and 
he who is unwilHng to admit an inferiority which 
exists only in idea can never be humbled by an 
artifice so shallow. On the subject of mere birth, 
as it is ordinarily estimated, whether it come from 
pride, or philosophy, or the habit of commanding 
as a soldier those who might be deemed my supe- 
riors as men, I have never been very sensitive. 
Perhaps the heavier disgrace which crushes me 
may have caused this want to appear lighter than 
it otherwise might." 

" Disgrace !" repeated Adelheid, in a voice that 
was nearly choked. " The word is fearful, com- 
ing from one of thy regulated mind, and as applied 
to himself" 

" I cannot choose another. Disgrace it is by 
the common consent of men — by long and endu- 
ring opinion — it would almost seem by the just 
judgment of God. Dost thou not believe, Adel- 
heid, that there are certain races which are deem- 
ed accursed, to answer some great and unseen 
end — races on whom the holy blessings of Heaven 
never descend, as they visit the meek and well- 
deserving that come of other lines !" 

" How can I believe this gross injustice, on the 
part of a Power that is wise without bounds, and 
forgiving to parental love?" 



THE HEADSMAN. 193 

" Thy answer would be well, were this earth 
the universe, or this state of being the last. But 
he whose sight extends beyond the grave, who 
fashions justice, and mercy, and goodness, on a 
scale commensurate with his own attributes, and 
not according to our limited means, is not to be 
estimated by the narrow rules that we apply to 
men. No, we must not measure the ordinances 
of God by laws that are plausible in our own eyes. 
Justice is a relative and not an abstract quality; 
and, until we understand the relations of the 
Deity to ourselves as well as we understand our 
own relations to the Deity, we reason in the 
dark." 

" I do not like to hear thee speak thus, Sigismund, 
and, least of all, with a brow so clouded, and in 
a voice so hollow !" 

" I will tell my tale more cheerfully, dearest. I 
have no right to make thee the partner of my 
misery ; and yet this is the manner I have reason- 
ed, and thought, and pondered — ay, until my brain 
has grown heated, and the power to reason itself 
has nearly tottered. Ever since that accursed 
hour, in which the truth became known to me, 
and I was made the master of the fatal secret, 
have I endeavored to feel and reason thus." 

*' What truth ? — what secret ? — If thou lovest 
me, Sigismund, speak calmly and without reserve." 

The young man gazed at her anxious face in 
a way to show how deeply he felt the weight of 
the blow he was about to give. Then, after a pause, 
he continued. 

" We have lately passed through a terrible scene 
together, dearest Adelheid. It was one that may 
well lessen the distances set between us by human 
laws and the tyranny of opinions. Had it been 
the will of God that the bark should perish, what 
a confused crowd of ill-assorted spirits would have 

Vol. I. R 



194 THE HEADSMAN. 

passed together into eternity ! We had them, there, 
of all degrees of vice, as of nearly all degrees of 
cultivation, from the subtle iniquity of the wily 
Neapolitan juggler to thine ov^^n pure soul. There 
w^ould have died in the Winkelried the noble of 
high degree, the reverend priest, the soldier in the 
pride of his strength, and the mendicant ! Death 
is an uncompromising leveller, and the depths of 
the lake, at least, might have washed out all our 
infamy, whether it came of real demerits or mere- 
ly from received usage ; even the luckless Baltha- 
zar, the persecuted and hated headsman, might 
have found those who would have mourned his 
loss." 

" If any could have died unwept in meeting 
such a fate, it must have been one that, in common, 
awakes so little of human sympathy; and one too, 
who, by dealing himself in the woes of others, has 
less claim to the compassion that we yield to most 
of our species." 

" Spare me — in mercy, Adelheid, spare me — 
thou speakest of my father !" 



CHAPTER XI. 

Fortune had smil'd upon Guelberto's birth, 
The heir of Valdespesa's rich domain ; 
An only child, he grew in years and worth, 
And well repaid a father's anxious pain. 

SOUTHET. 

As Sigismund uttered this communication, so 
terrible to the ear of his listener, he arose and fled 
from the room. The possession of a kingdom 
would not have tempted him to remain and note 



THE HEADSMAN. 195 

its effect. The domestics of Blonay observed his 
troubled air and rapid strides as he passed them, 
but, too simple to suspect more than the ordinary 
impetuosity of youth, he succeeded in getting 
through the inferior gate of the castle and into the 
fields, without attracting any embarrassing atten- 
tion to his movements. Here he began to breathe 
more freely, and the load which had nearly choked 
his respiration became hghtened. For half an 
hour the young man paced the greensward scarce- 
ly conscious whither he went, until he found that 
his steps had again led him beneath the window 
of the knights' hall. Glancing an eye upward, he 
saw Adelheid still seated at the balcony, and ap- 
parently yet alone. He thought she had been 
weeping, and he cursed the weakness which had 
kept him from effecting the often-renewed resolu- 
tion to remove himself, and his cruel fortunes, for 
ever from before her mind. A second look, how- 
ever, showed him that he was again beckoned to 
ascend ! The revolutions in the purposes of lovers 
are sudden and easily effected; and Sigismund, 
through whose mind a dozen ill-digested plans of 
placing the sea between himself and her he loved 
had just been floating, was now hurriedly re- 
tracing his steps to her presence. 

Adelheid had necessarily been educated under 
the influence of the prejudices of the age and of 
the country in which she lived. The existence of 
the office of headsman in Berne, and the nature of 
its hereditary duties, were well known to her ; and, 
though superior to the inimical feeling which had 
so lately been exhibited against the luckless Bal- 
thazar, she had certainly never anticipated a shock 
so cruel as was now produced, by abruptly learn- 
ing that this despised and persecuted being was the 
father of the youth to whom she had yielded her 
virgin affections. When the words which pro- 



196 THE HEADSMAN. 

claimed the connexion had escaped the lips of Si- 
gismund, she listened like one who fancied that 
her ears deceived her. She had prepared herself 
to learn that he derived his being from some pea- 
sant or ignoble artisan, and, once or twice, as he 
drew nearer to the fatal declaration, awkward 
gUmmerings of a suspicion that some repulsive 
moral unworthiness was connected with his origin 
troubled her imagination; but her apprehensions 
could not, by possibility, once turn in the direction 
of the revolting truth. It was some time before 
she was able to collect her thoughts, or to reflect 
on the course it most became her to pursue. But, 
as has been seen, it was long before she could sum- 
mon the self-command to request what she now 
saw was doubly necessary, anothc»r meeting with 
her lover. As both had thought of nothing but his 
last words during the short separation, there ap- 
peared no abruptness in the manner in which he 
resumed the discourse, on seating himself at her 
side, exactly as if they had not parted at all. 

" The secret has been torn from me, Adelheid. 
The headsman of the canton is my father; were 
the fact publicly known, the heartless and obdurate 
laws would compel me to be his successor. He 
has no other child, except a gentle girl — one inno- 
cent and kind as thou." 

Adelheid covered her face with both her hands, 
as if to shut out a view of the horrible truth. Per- 
haps an instinctive reluctance to permit her com- 
panion to discover how great a blow had been 
given by this avowal of his birth, had also its in- 
fluence in producing the movement. They who 
have passed the period of youth, and who can re- 
call those days of inexperience and hope, when the 
affections are fresh and the heart is untainted with 
too much communion with the world,^ — and, espe- 
cially, they who know of what a delicate com- 



THE HEADSMAN. 197 

pound of the imaginative and the real the master- 
passion is formed, how sensitively it regards all that 
can reflect credit on the beloved object, and with 
what ingenuity it endeavors to find plausible ex- 
cuses for every blot that may happen, either by 
accident or demerit, to tarnish the lustre of a pic- 
ture that fancy has so largely aided in drawing, 
will understand the rude nature of the shock that 
she had received. But Adelheid de Willading, 
though a woman in the liveliness and fervor of her 
imagination, as well as in the proneness to conceive 
her own ingenuous conceptions to be more found- 
ed in reality than a sterner view of things might 
possibly have warranted, was a woman also in 
the more generous qualities of the heart, and in 
those enduring principles, which seem to have pre- 
disposed the better part of the sex to make the 
heaviest sacrifices rather than be false to their af- 
fections. While her frame shuddered, therefore, 
with the violence and abruptness of the emotions 
she had endured, dawnings of the right gleamed 
upon her pure mind, and it was not long before 
she was able to contemplate the truth with the 
steadiness of principle, though it might, at the same 
time, have been with much of the lingering weak- 
ness of humanity. When she lowered her hands, 
she looked towards the mute and watchful Sigis- 
mund, with a smile that caused the deadly paleness 
of her features to resemble a gleam of the sun 
lighting upon a spotless peak of her native moun- 
tains. 

" It would be vain to endeavor to conceal from 
thee, Sigismund," she said, *' that 1 could wish this 
were not so. I will confess even more — that 
when the truth first broke upon me, thy repeated 
services, and, what is even less pardonable, thy 
tried worth, were for an instant forgotten in the 
reluctance I feh to admit that my fate could ever 
R2 



108 THE HEADSMAN. 

be united with one so unhappily situated. There 
are moments when prejudices and habits are strong- 
er than reason ; but their triumph is short in well- 
intentioned minds. The terrible injustice of our 
laws have never struck me with such force before, 
though last night, while those wretched travellers 
were so eager for the blood of — of — " 
" My father, Adelheid." 

" Of the author of thy being, Sigismund," she 
continued, with a solemnity that proved to the 
young man liow deeply she reverenced the tie, " I 
was compelled to see that society might be cruelly 
unjust ; but now I find its laws and prohibitions 
visiting one like thee, so far from joining in its op- 
pression, my soul revolts against the wrong." 

" Thanks — thanks — a thousand thanks !" return- 
ed the young man, fervently. " I did not expect 
less than this from thee, Mademoiselle de Willad- 
ing." 

" If thou didst not expect more — far more, Sigis- 
mund," resumed the maiden, her ashen hue bright- 
ened to crimson, " thou hast scarcely been less un- 
just than the world ; and I will add, thou hast nev- 
er understood that Adelheid de Willading, whose 
name is uttered with so cold a form. We all have 
moments of weakness ; moments when the seduc- 
tions of life, the worthless ties which bind together 
the thoughtless and selfish in what are called the 
interests of the world, appear of more value than 
aught else. I am no visionary, to fancy imaginary 
and factitious obligations superior to those which 
nature and wisdom have created — for if there be 
much unjustifiable cruelty in the practices, there is 
also much that is wise in the ordinances, of socie- 
ty — or to think *that a wayward fan^y is to be 
indulged at any and eve^-y expense to the feel- 
ings and opinions of others. On the contrary, I 
well know that so long as men exist in the condi- 



THE HEADSMAN- 199 

tion in which they are, it is little more than com- 
mon prudence to respect their habits ; and that ill- 
assorted unions, in general, contain in themselves 
a dangerous enemy to happiness. Had I always 
known thy history, dread of the consequences, or 
those cold forms which protect the fortunate 
would probably have interposed to prevent either 
from learning much of the other's character. — I 
say not this, Sigismund, as by thy eye I see thou 
wouldst think, in reproach for any deception, for I 
well know the accidental nature of our acquaint- 
ance, and that the intimacy was forced upon thee 
by our own importunate gratitude, but simply, and 
in explanation of my own feelings. As it is, we 
are not to judge of our situation by ordinary rules, 
and I am not now to decide on your pretensions 
to my hand merely as the daughter of the Baron 
de Willading receiving a proposal from one whose 
birth is not noble, but as Adelheid should weigh 
the claims of Sigismund, subject to some diminu- 
tion of advantages, if thou wilt, that is perhaps 
greater than she had at first anticipated." 

" Dost thou consider the acceptance of my hand 
possible, after what thou knowest !" exclaimed the 
young man, in open wonder. 

" So far from regarding the question in that 
manner, I ask myself if it will be right — if it be 
possible, to reject the preserver of my own life, 
the preserver of my father's life, Sigismund Stein- 
bach, because he is the son of one that men per- 
secute ?" 

"Adelheid !" 

" Do not anticipate my words," said the maiden 
calmly, but in a way to check his impatience by 
the quiet dignity of her manner. " This is an im- 
portant, I might say a solemn decision, and it has 
been presented to me suddenly and without prepa- 
ration. Thou wilt not think the worse of me, for 



200 THE HEADSMAN. 

asking time to reflect before I give the pledge that, 
in my eyes, will be for ever sacred. My father, 
believing thee to be of obscm-e origin, and tho- 
roughly conscious of thy worth, dear Sigismund, 
authorized me to speak as I did in the beginning 
of our interview ; but my father may possibly think 
the conditions of his consent altered by this un- 
happy exposure of the truth. It is meet that I tell 
him all, for thou knowest I must abide by his de- 
cision. This thine own sense and filial piety will 
approve." 

In spite of the strong objectionable facts that he 
had just revealed, hope had begun to steal upon the 
wishes of the young man, as he listened to the 
consoling words of the single-minded and affec- 
tionate Adclheid. It would scarcely have been pos- 
sible for a youth so endowed by nature, and one 
so inevitably conscious of his own value, though 
so modest in its exhibition, not to feel encouraged 
by her ingenuous and frank admission, as she be- 
trayed his influence over her happiness in the un- 
disguised and simple manner related. But the in- 
tention to appeal to her father caused him to view 
the subject more dispassionately, for his strong 
sense was not slow in pointing out the difference 
between the two judges, in a case like his. 

" Trouble him not, Adelheid ; the consciousness 
that his prudence denies what a generous feehng 
might prompt him to bestow, may render him un- 
happy. It is impossible that Melchior dc Willading 
should consent to give an only child to a son of 
the headsman of his canton. At some other time, 
when the recollections of the late storm shall be 
less vivid, thine own reason will approve of his 
decision." 

His companion, who Avas thoughtfully leaning 
her spotless brow on her hand, did not appear to 
hear his words. She had recovered from the shock 



THE HEADSMAN. 201 

given by the sudden announcement of his origin, 
and was now musing intently, and with cooler dis- 
crimination, on the commencement of their ac- 
quaintance, its progress and all its little incidents, 
down to the two grave events which had so 
gradually and firmly cemented the sentiments of 
esteem and admiration in the stronger and indelible 
tie of affection. 

" If thou art the son of him thou namest, why 
art thou known by the name of Steinbach, when 
Balthazar bears another ?" demanded Adelheid, 
anxious to seize even the faintest hold of hope. 

" It was my intention to conceal nothing, but to 
lay before thee the history of my life, with all the 
reasons that may have influenced my conduct," 
returned Sigismund : " at some other time, when 
both are in a calmer state of mind, I shall dare to 
entreat a hearing — " 

"Delay is unnecessary — it might even be im- 
proper. It is my duty to explain every thing to 
my father, and he may wish to know why thou 
hast not always appeared what thou art. Do not 
fancy, Sigismund, that I distrust thy motive, but 
the wariness of the old and the confidence of the 
young have so little in common ! — I would rather 
that thou told me now." 

He yielded to the mild earnestness of her man- 
ner, and to the sweet, but sad, smile with which 
she seconded the appeal. 

" If thou wilt hear the melancholy history, Adel- 
heid," he said, " there is no sufficient reason why 
I should wish to postpone the little it will be ne- 
cessary to say. You are probably familiar with 
the laws of the canton, I mean those cruel ordi- 
nances by which a particular family is condemned, 
for a better word can scarcely be found, to dis- 
charge the duties of this revolting office. This 
duty may have been a privilege in the dark ages, 



202 THE HEADSMAN. 

but it is now become a tax that none, who have 
been educated with better hopes, can endure to pay. 
My father, trained from infancy to expect the em- 
ployment, and accustomed to its discharge in con- 
templation, succeeded to his parent while yet 
young ; and, though formed by nature a meek and 
even a compassionate man, he has never shrunk 
from his bloody tasks, whenever required to fulfil 
them by the command of his superiors. But, touch- 
ed by a sentiment of humanity, it was his wish to 
avert from me what his better reason led him to 
think the calamity of our race. I am the eldest 
born, and, strictly, I was the child most liable to 
be called to assume the office, but, as I have heard, 
the tender love of my mother induced her to sug- 
gest a plan by which I, at least, might be rescued 
from the odium that had so long been attached to 
our name. I was secretly conveyed from the 
house while yet an infant ; a feigned death con- 
cealed the pious fraud, and thus far. Heaven be 
praised ! the authorities are ignorant of my birth !" 

"And thy mother, Sigismund ; I have great re- 
spect for that noble mother, who, doubtless, is en- 
dowed with more than her sex's firmness and 
constancy, since she must have sworn faith and 
love to thy father, knowing his duties and the hope- 
lessness of their being evaded 1 I feel a reverence 
for a woman so superior to the weaknesses, and 
yet so true to the real and best affections, of her 
sex !" 

The young man smiled so painfully as to cause 
his enthusiastic companion to regret that she had 
put the question. 

" My mother is certainly a woman not only to 
be loved, but in many particulars deeply to be re- 
vered. My poor and noble mother has a thousand 
excellencies, being a most tender parent, with a 
heart so kind that it would grieve her to see injury 



THE HEADSMAN. 203 

done even to the meanest living thing. She was 
not a vt^oman, surely, intended by God to be the 
mother of a line of executioners !" 

" Thou seest, Sigismund," said Adelheid, nearly 
breathless in the desire to seek an excuse for her 
own predilections, and to lessen the mental agony 
he endured — " thou seest that one gentle and ex- 
cellent woman, at least, could trust her happiness 
to thy family. No doubt she was the daughter of 
some worthy and just-viewing burgher of the can- 
ton, that had educated his child to distinguish be- 
tween misfortune and crime?" 

*' She was an only child and an heiress, like thy- 
self, Adelheid ;" he answered, looking about him 
as if he sought some object on which he might 
cast part of the bitterness that loaded his heart. 
" Thou art not less the beloved and cherished of 
thine own parent than was my excellent mother of 
her's !" 

" Sigismund, thy manner is startHng ! — What 
wouldst thou say V 

" Neufchatel, and other countries besides Berne, 
have their privileged ! My mother was the only 
child of the headsman of the first. Thus thou 
seest, Adelheid, that I boast my quarterings as 
well as another. God be praised ! we are not le- 
gally compelled, however, to butcher the con- 
demned of any country but our own !" 

The wild bitterness with which this was uttered, 
and the energy of his language, struck thrilling 
chords on every nerve of his hstener. 

" So many honors should not be unsupported ;'* 
he resumed. " We are rich, for people of humble 
wishes, and have ample means of living withou 
the revenues of our charge — I love to put forth 
our long-acquired honors ! The means of a re- 
spectable livelihood are far from being wanted. I 
have told you of the kind intentions of my mother 



204 THE HEADSMAN. 

to redeem one of her children, at least, from the 
stigma which weighed upon us all, and the birth 
of a second son enabled her to effect this charita- 
ble purpose, without attracting attention. I was 
nursed and educated apart, for many years, in ig- 
norance of my birth. At a suitable age, notwith 
standing the early death of my brother, I was sent 
to seek advancement in the service of the house of 
Austria, under the feigned name I bear. I will not 
tell thee the anguish I felt, Adelheid, when the truth 
was at length revealed ! Of all the cruelties inflict- 
ed by society, there is none so unrighteous in its 
nature as the stigma it entails in the succession of 
crime or misfortune : of all its favors, none can 
find so little justification, in right and reason, as 
the privileges accorded to the accident of descent." 

" And yet we are much accustomed to honor 
those that come of an ancient line, and to see some 
part of the glory of the ancestor even in the most 
remote descendant." 

" The more remote, the greater is the world's 
deference. What better proof can we have of 
the world's weakness 1 Thus the immediate child 
of the hero, he whose blood is certain, who bears 
the image of the father in his face, who has lis- 
tened to his counsels, and may be supposed to have 
derived, at least, some portion of his greatness 
from the nearness of his origin, is less a prince 
than he who has imbibed the current through a 
hundred vulgar streams, and, were truth but known, 
may have no natural claim at all upon the much- 
prized blood ! This comes of artfully leading the 
mind to prejudices, and of a vicious longing in 
man to forget his origin and destiny, by wishing 
to be more than nature ever intended he should 
become." 

" Surely, Sigismund, there is something justifia- 



THE HEADSMAN. 205 

ble in the sentiment of desiring to belong to the 
good and noble !" 

" If good and noble were the same. Thou hast 
well designated the feeling ; so long as it is truly 
a sentiment, it is not only excusable but wise ; for 
who would not wish to come of the brave, and 
honest, and learned, or by what other greatness 
they may be known 1 — it is wise, since the legacy 
of his virtues is perhaps the dearest incentive that 
a good man has for struggling against the cur- 
rents of baser interest ; but what hope is left to 
one like me, who finds himself so placed that he 
can neither inherit nor transmit aught but disgrace! 
I do not affect to despise the advantages of birth, 
simply because I do not possess them ; I only com- 
plain that artful combinations have perverted what 
should be sentiment and taste, into a narrow and 
vulgar prejudice, by which the really ignoble en- 
joy privileges greater than those perhaps who are 
worthy of the highest honors man can bestow." 

Adelheid had encouraged the digression, which, 
w^ith one less gifted with strong good sense than 
Sigismund, might have only served to wound his 
pride, but she perceived that he eased his mind by 
thus drawing on his reason, and by setting up that 
which should be in opposition to that which was. 

" Thou knowest," she answered, " that neither 
my father nor I am disposed to lay much stress on 
the opinions of the world, as it concerns thee." 

" That is, neither will insist on nobility ; but will 
either consent to share the obloquy of a union with 
an hereditary executioner ?" 

" Thou hast not yet related all it may be neces- 
sary to know tha,t we may decide." 

" There is left little to explain. The expedient 
of my kind parents has thus far succeeded. Their 
two surviving children, my sister and myself, were 
snatched, for a time at least, from their accursed 

Vol. I. S 



206 THE HEADSMAN. 

fortune, while my poor brother, who promised little, 
was left, by, a partiality I will not stop to examine, 
to pass as the inheritor of our infernal privileges — 
Nay, pardon, dearest Adelheid, I will be more cool ; 
but death has saved the youth from the execrable 
duties, and I am now the only male child of Bal- 
thazar — yes," he added, laughing frightfully, " I, 
too, have now a narrow monopoly of all the hon- 
ors of our house !'* 

" Thou — thou, Sigismund — with thy habits, thy 
education, thy feelings, thou surely canst not be 
required to discharge the duties of this horrible 
office !" 

" It is easy to see that my high privileges do not 
charm you. Mademoiselle de Willading ; nor can I 
wonder at the taste. My chief surprise should be, 
that you so long tolerate an executioner in your 
presence." 

" Did I not know and understand the bitterness 
of feehng natural to one so placed, this language 
would cruelly hurt me, Sigismund ; but thou canst 
not truly mean there is a real danger of thy ever 
being called to execute this duty ? Should there 
be the chance of such a calamity, may not the in- 
fluence of my father avert it ? He is not w^ithout 
weight in the councils of the canton." 

"■ At present his friendship need not be taxed, 
for none but my parents, my sister, and thou, 
Adelheid, are acquainted with the facts I have just 
related. My poor sister is an artless, but an unhap- 
py girl, for the well-intentioned design of our 
mother has greatly disqualified her from bearing 
the truth, as she might have done, had it been kept 
constantly before her eyes. To the world, a young 
kinsman of my father appears destined to succeed 
him, and there the matter must stand until fortune 
shall decide differently. As respects my poor 
sister, there is some little hope that the evil may be 



THE HEADSMAN. 207 

altogether averted. She is on the point of a mar- 
riage here at Vevey, that may be the means of 
conceaHng her origin in new ties. As for me, 
time must decide my fate." 

** Why should the truth be ever knov^n !" ex- 
claimed Adelheid, nearly gasping for breath, in her 
eagerness to propose some expedient that should 
rescue Sigismund for ever from so odious an office. 

" Thou sayest that there are ample means in thy 
family — relinquish all to this youth, on condition 
that he assume thy place !" 

*•' I vrould gladly beggar myself to be quit of 
it—" 

" Nay, thou wilt not be a beggar while there is 
wealth among the de Vy^illadings. Let the final 
decision, in respcrt to other things, be what it may, 
this can we at least promise !" 

" My sword will prevent me from being under 
the necessity of accepting the boon thou wouldst 
offer. With this good sword I can always com- 
mand an honorable existence, should Providence 
save me from the disgrace of exchanging it for that 
of the executioner. But there exists an obstacle of 
which thou hast not yet heard. My sister, who 
has certainly no admiration for the honors that 
have humihated our race for so many generations 
— I might say ages — have we not ancient honors, 
Adelheid, as well as thou ? — my sister is contract- 
ed to one who bargains for eternal secrecy on this 
point, as the condition of his accepting the hand 
and ample dowry of one of the gentlest of human 
beings ! Thou seest that others are not as gene- 
rous as thyself, Adelheid ! My father, anxious to 
dispose of his child, has consented to the terms 
and as the youth who is next in succession to the 
family-honors is little disposed to accept them, and 
has already some suspicion of the deception as re- 
spects her, I may be compelled to appear in order 



208 THE HEADSMAN. 

to protect the offspring of my unoffending sister 
from the curse." 

This was assailing Adelheid in a point where 
she was the weakest. One of her generous tem- 
perament and self-denying habits could scarce 
entertain the wish of exacting that from another 
which she was not willing to undergo herself, and 
the hope that had just been reviving in her heart 
was nearly extinguished by the discovery. Still 
she was so much in the habit of feeling under the 
guidance of her excellent sense, and it was so nat- 
ural to cling to her just wishes, while there was a 
reasonable chance of their being accomplished, 
that she did not despair. 

" Thy sister and her future husband know her 
birth, and understand the chances they run." 

*' She knows all this, and such is her generosity, 
that she is not disposed to betray me in order to 
serve herself But this self-denial forms an addi- 
tional obligation on my part to declare myself the 
wretch I am. I cannot say that my sister is ac- 
customed to regard our long-endured fortunes with 
all the horror I feel, for she has been longer ac- 
quainted with the facts, and the domestic habits of 
her sex have left her less exposed to the encounter 
of the world's hatred, and perhaps she is partly 
ignorant of all the odium we sustain. My long 
absences in foreign services delayed the confidence 
as respects myself, while the yearnings of a mother 
towards an only daughter caused her to be received 
into the family, though still in secret, several years 
before I was told the truth. She is also much my 
junior; and all these causes, with some difference 
in our education, have less disposed her to misery 
than I am ; for while my father, with a cruel kind- 
ness, had me well and even liberally instructed, 
Christine was taught as better became the hopes 
and origin of both, Now tell me, Adelheid, that 



THE HEADSMAN. 209 

thou hatest me for my parentage, and despisest me 
for having so long dared to intrude on thy compa- 
ny, with the full consciousness of what I am for 
ever present to my thoughts!" 

" I like not to hear thee make these bitter allu- 
sions to an accident of this nature, Sigismund. 
Were I to tell thee that I do not feel this circum- 
stance with nearly, if not quite, as much poignan- 
cy as thyself," added the ingenuous girl, with a 
noble frankness, " I should do injustice to my grati- 
tude and to my esteem for thy character. But 
there is more elasticity in the heart of woman 
than in that of thy imperious and proud sex. So 
far from thinking of thee as thou wouldsi fain be- 
lieve, I see naught but what is natural and justifia- 
ble in thy reserve. Remember, thou hast not 
tempted my ears by professions and prayers, as 
women are commonly entreated, but that the in- 
terest I feel in thee has been modestly and fairly 
won. I can neither say nor hear more at present, 
for this unexpected announcement has in some de- 
gree unsettled my mind. Leave me to reflect on 
what I ought to do, and rest assured that thou 
canst not have a kinder or more partial advocate 
of what truly belongs to thy honor and happiness 
than my own heart." 

As the daughter of Melchior de Willading con- 
cluded, she extended her hand with affection to 
the young man, who pressed it against his breast 
with manly tenderness, when he slowly and reluc- 
tantly withdrew. 



S2 



210 THE HEADSMAIf. 



CHAPTER XII. 



To know no more 
Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise. 

Milton. 

Our heroine was a woman in the best meaning 
of that endearing, and, we might add, compre- 
hensive word. Sensitive, reserved, and at times 
even timid, on points that did not call for the ex- 
ercise of higher qualities, she was firm in her prin- 
ciples, constant as she was fond in her affections, 
and self-devoted when duty and inclination united 
to induce the concession, to a degree that placed 
the idea of sacrifice out of the question. On the 
other hand, the liability to receive Hvely impres- 
sions, a distinctive feature of her sex, and the apti- 
tude to attach importance to the usages by which 
she was surrounded, and which is necessarily 
greatest in those who lead secluded and inactive 
lives, rendered it additionally difficult for her mind 
to escape from the trammels of opinion, and to think 
with indifference of circumstances which all near 
her treated with high respect, or to which they 
attached a stigma allied to disgust. Had the case 
been reversed, had Sigismund been noble, and 
Adelheid a headsman's child, it is probable the 
young man might have found the means to indulge 
his passion without making too great a sacrifice 
of his pride. By transporting his wife to his cas- 
tle, conferring his own established name, separat- 
ing her from all that was unpleasant and degrading 
in the connexion, and finding occupation for his 
own mind in the multipHed and engrossing employ- 
ments of his station, he would have diminished 
motives for contemplating, and consequently for 



THE HEADSMAN. 211 

lamenting, the objectionable features of the alli- 
ance he had made. These are the advantages 
which nature and the laws of society give to man 
over the weaker but the truer sex ; and yet how 
few would have had sufficient generosity to make 
even the sacrifice of feeUng which such a course 
required ! On the other hand, Adelheid would be 
compelled to part with the ancient and distinguish- 
ed appellation of her family, to adopt one which 
was deemed infamous in the canton, or, if sonae 
poHtic expedient were found to avert this first dis- 
grace, it would unavoidably be of a nature to at- 
tract, rather than to avert, the attention of all who 
knew the facts, from the humiliating character of 
his origin. She had no habitual relief against the 
constant action of her thoughts, for the sphere of 
woman narrows the affections in such a way as 
to render them most dependent on the little acci- 
dents of domestic life; she could not close her 
doors against communication v;ith the kinsmen of 
her husband, should it be his pleasure to command 
or his feehng to desire it; and it would become 
obligatory on her to Hsten to the still but never- 
ceasing voice of duty, and to forget, at his request, 
that she had ever been more fortunate, or that she 
was born for better hopes. 

We do not say that all these calculations crossed 
the mind of the musing maiden, though she cer- 
tainly had a general and vague view of the con- 
sequences that were likely to be drawn upon her- 
self by a connexion with Sigismund. She sat mo- 
tionless, buried in deep thought, long after his dis- 
appearance. The young man had passed by the 
postern around the base of the castle, and was 
descending the mountain-side, across the sloping 
meadows, with rapid steps, and probably for the 
first time since their acquaintance her eye followed 
his manly figure vacantly and with indifference. 



212 THE HEADSMAN. 

Her mind was too intently occupied for the 
usual observation of the senses. The whole of 
that grand and lovely landscape was spread before 
her without conveying impressions, as we gaze 
into the void of the firmament with our looks on 
vacuum. Sigismund had disappeared among the 
walls of the vineyards, when she arose, and drew 
such a sigh as is apt to escape us after long and 
painful meditation. But the eyes of the high- 
minded girl were bright and her cheek flushed, 
while the whole of her features wore an expres- 
sion of loftier beauty than ordinarily distinguished 
even her lovehness. Her own resolution was 
formed. She had decided with the rare and gen- 
erous self-devotion of a female heart that loves, 
and which can love in its freshness and purity but 
once. At that instant footsteps were heard in the 
corridor, and the three old nobles whom we so 
lately left on the castle-terrace, appeared together 
in the knights' hall. 

Melchior de Willading approached his daughter 
with a joyous face, for he too had lately gained 
what he conceived to be a glorious conquest over 
his prejudices, and the victory put him in excellent 
humor with himself. 

" The question is for ever decided," he said, kiss- 
ing the burning forehead of Adelheid with affec- 
tion, and rubbing his hands, in the manner of one 
who was glad to be free from a perplexing doubt. 
" These good friends agree with me, that, in a case 
like this, it becomes even our birth to forget the 
origin of the youth. He who has saved the lives 
of the two last of the Willadings at least deserves 
to have some share in what is left of them. Here 
is my good Grimaldi, too, ready to beard me if I 
will not consent to let him enrich the brave fel- 
low — as if we were beggars, and had not the 
means of supporting our kinsman in credit at 



THE HEADSMAN. 213 

home! But we will not be indebted even to so 
tried a friend for a tittle of our happiness. The 
work shall be all our own, even to the letters of 
nobihty, which I shall command at an early day 
from Vienna ; for it would be cruel to let the noble 
fellow want so simple an advantage, which will at 
once raise him to our own level, and make him as 
good — ay, by the beard of Luther ! better than 
the best man in Berne." 

"I have never known thee niggardly before, 
though I have known thee often well intrenched 
behind Swiss frugality ;" said the Signor Grimaldi, 
laughing. '• Thy life, my dear Melchior, may 
have excellent value in thine own eyes, but I am 
little disposed to set so mean a price on my own, 
as thou appearest to think it should command. 
Thou hast decided well, I will say nobly, in the 
best meaning of the word, in consenting to receive 
this brave Sigismund as a son ; but thou art not to 
think, young lady, because this body of mine is get- 
ting the worse for use, that I hold it altogether 
worthless, and that it is to be dragged from yonder 
lake like so much foul linen, and no questions are 
to be asked touching the manner in which the ser- 
vice has been done. I claim to portion thy hus- 
band, that he may at least make an appearance 
that becomes the son-in-law of Melchior de Willad- 
ing. Am I of no value, that ye treat me so unce- 
remoniously as to say I shall not pay for my own 
preservation ?" 

" Have it thine own way, good Gaetano — have 
it as thou wilt, so thou dost but leave us the 
youth—" 

" Father—" 

" I will have no maidenly aftectation, Adelheid. 
I expect thee to receive the husband we offer with 
as good a grace as if he wore a crown. It has 
been agreed upon between us that Sigismund 



214 THE HEADSMAN. 

Steinbach is to be my son ; and from time imme- 
morial, the daughters of our house have submitted, 
in these affairs, to what has been advised by the 
wisdom of their seniors, as became their sex and 
inexperience." 

The three old men had entered the hall full of 
good-humor, and it would have been sufficiently 
apparent, by the manner of the Baron de Willad- 
ing, that he trifled with Adelheid, had it not been 
well known to the others that her feelings were 
chiefly consulted in the choice that had just been 
made. 

But, notwithstanding the high glee in which the 
father spoke, the pleasure and buoyancy of his 
manner did not communicate itself to the child as 
quickly as he could wish. There was far more 
than virgin embarrassment in the mien of Adel- 
heid. Her color went and came, and her look 
turned from one to the other painfully, while she 
struggled to speak. The Signor Grimaldi whis- 
pered to his companions, and Roger de Blonay 
discreetly withdrew, under the pretence that his 
services were needed at Vevey, where active pre- 
parations were making for the Abbaye des Vigne- 
rons. The Genoese would then have followed his 
example, but the baron held his arm, while he turn- 
ed an inquiring eye towards his daughter, as if 
commanding her to deal more frankly with him. 

" Father," said Adelheid, in a voice that shook, 
in spite of the efibrt to control her feelings, " I 
have something important to communicate, before 
this acceptance of Herr Steinbacii is a matter 
'-revocably determined." 

" Speak freely, my child ; this is a tried friend, 
and one entitled to know all that concerns us, es- 
pecially in this aflair. Throwing aside all pleas- 
antry, I trust, Adelheid, that we are to have no 
girhsh trifling with a youth like Sigismund; to 



THE HEADSMAN. 215 

whom we owe so much, even to our Uves, and in 
whose behalf we should be ready to sacrifice every 
feeling of prejudice, or habit — all that we possess, 
ay, even to our pride." 

"All, father?" 

" I have said all. I will not take back a letter 
of the word, though it should rob me ofWillading, 
my rank in the canton, and an ancient name to 
boot. Am I not right, Gaetano 1 I place the hap- 
piness of the boy above all other considerations, 
that of Adelheid being understood to be so inti- 
mately blended with his. I repeat it, therefore, all." 

" It would be well to hear what the young lady 
has to say, before we urge this affair any farther ;" 
said the Signor Grimaldi, who, having achieved no 
conquest over himself, was not quite so exuberant 
in his exultation as his friend ; observing more 
calmly, and noting what he saw with the clearness 
of a cooler-headed and more sagacious man. " I 
am much in error, or thy daughter has that which 
is serious, to communicate." 

The paternal affection of Melchior now took the 
alarm, and he gave an eager attention to his child. 
Adelheid returned his evident solicitude by a smile 
of love, but its painful expression was so unequivo- 
cal as to heighten the baron's fears. 

" Art not well, love ? It cannot be that we have 
been deceived — that some peasant's daughter is 
thought worthy to supplant thee? Ha! — Signor 
Grimaldi, this matter begins, in sooth, to seem of- 
fensive ; — but, old as I am — Well, we shall never 
know the truth, unless thou speakest frankly — this 
is a rare business, after all, Gaetano — that a daugh- 
ter of mine should be repulsed by a hind !" 

Adelheid made an imploring gesture for her fa- 
ther to forbear, while she resumed her seat from 
farther inability to stand. The two anxious old 
men followed her example, in wondering silence. 



216 THE HEADSMAN. 

" Thou dost both the honor and modesty of Si- 
gismund great injustice, father;" resumed the 
maiden, after a pause, and speaking with a calm- 
ness of manner that surprised even herself " If 
thou and this excellent and tried friend will give 
me your attention for a few minutes, nothing shall 
be concealed." 

Her companions listened in wonder, for they 
plainly saw that the matter was more grave than 
either had at first imagined. Adelheid paused 
again, to summon force for the ungrateful duty, 
and then she succinctly, but clearly, related the 
substance of Sigismund's communication. Both 
the listeners eagerly caught each syllable that fell 
from the quivering lips of the maiden, for she 
trembled, notwithstanding a struggle to be calm 
that was almost superhuman, and when her voice 
ceased they gazed at each other hke men sudden- 
ly astounded by some dire and totally unexpected 
calamity. The baron, in truth, could scarcely be- 
lieve that he had not been deceived by a defective 
hearing, for age had begun a little to impair tlrat 
useful faculty, while his friend admitted the words 
as one receives impressions of the most revolting 
and disheartening nature. 

" This is a damnable and fearful fact !" muttered 
the latter, when Adelheid had altogether ceased to 
speak. 

" Did she say that Sigismund is the son of Bal- 
thazar, the public headsman of the canton !" asked 
the father of his friend, in the way that one re- 
luctantly assures himself of some half-comprehend- 
ed and unwelcome truth, — '^ of Balthazar — of tha 
family accursed !" 

" Such is the parentage it hath been the will of 
God to bestow on the preserver of our lives," 
meekly answered Adelheid. 

♦* Hath the villain dared to steal into my family- 



THE HEADSMAN. 217 

circle, concealing this disgusting and disgraceful 
fact ! — Hath he endeavored to engraft the impurity 
of his source on the untarnished stock of a noble 
and ancient family ! There is something exceeding 
mere duplicity in this, Signor Grimaldi. There is 
a dark and meaning crime." 

" There is that which much exceeds our means 
of remedying, good Melchior. But let us not 
rashly blame the boy, whose birth is rather to be 
imputed to him as a misfortune than as a crime. 
If he were a thousand Balthazars, he has saved all 
our Kves !" 

" Thou sayest true — thou sayest no more than 
the truth. Thou wert always of a more reasonable 
brain than I, though thy more southern origin 
would seem to contradict it. Here, then, are all 
our fine fancies and hberal schemes of generosity 
blown to the winds !" 

" That is not so evident," returned the Genoese, 
who had not failed the while to study the counte- 
nance of Adelheid, as if he would fully ascertain 
her secret wishes. " There has been much dis- 
course, fair Adelheid, between thee and the youth 
on this matter ?" 

" Signore, there has. I was about to communi- 
cate the intentions of my father ; for the circum- 
stances in which we were placed, the weight of 
our many obligations, the usual distance which 
rank interposes between the noble and the simply 
born, perhaps justified this boldness in a maiden," 
she added, though the tell-tale blood revealed her 
shame. " I was making Sigismund acquainted 
with my father's wishes, when he met my con- 
fidence by the avow^al which I have just related." 

" He deems his birth — ?" 

" An insuperable barrier to the connexion. Si- 
gismund Steinbach, though so little favored in the 

Vol. I. T 



218 THE HEADSMAN. 

accident of his origin, is not a beggar to sue for 
that which his own generous feelings would con- 
demn." 

" And thou ?" 

Adelheid lowered her eyes, and seemed to reflect 
on the nature of her answer. 

" Thou wilt pardon this curiosity, which may 
wear too much the aspect of unwarrantable med- 
dling, but my age and ancient friendship, the recent 
occurrences, and a growing love for all that con- 
cerns thee, must plead my excuses. Unless we 
know thy wishes, daughter, neither Melchior nor 
I can act as we might wish?" 

Adelheid was long and thoughtfully silent. 
Though every sentiment of her heart, and all that 
inclination which is the offspring of the warm and 
poetical illusions of love, tempted her to declare a 
readiness to sacrifice every other consideration to 
the engrossing and pure affections of woman, 
ophiion with its iron gripe" still held her in suspense 
on the propriety of braving the prejudices of the 
world. The timidity of that sex which, however 
ready to make an offering of its most cherished 
privileges on the shrine of connubial tenderness, 
shrinks with a keen sensitiveness from the appear- 
ance of a forward devotion to the other, had its 
weight also, nor could a child so pious altogether 
forget the effect her decision might have on the 
future happiness of her sole surviving parent. 

The Genoese understood the struggle, though he 
foresaw its termination, and he resumed the dis- 
course himself, pa tly with the kind wish to give 
the maiden time to reflect maturely before she an- 
swered, and partly following a very natural train 
of his own thoughts. 

" There is naught sure in this fickle state of be- 
ing;" he continued. "Neither the throne, nor 
riches, nor health, nor even the sacred affections, 



THE HEADSMAN. 219 

are secure against change. Well may we pause 
then and weigh every chance of happiness, ere we 
take the last and final step in any great or novel 
measure. Thou knowest the hopes w^ith which I 
entered life, Melchior, and the chilling disappoint- 
ments with which my career is likely to close. No 
youth was born to fairer hopes, nor did Italy know 
one more joyous than myself, the morning I re- 
ceived the hand of Angiolina ; and yet two short 
years saw all those hopes withered, this joyousness 
gone, and a cloud thrown across my prospects 
which has never disappeared. A widowed hus- 
band, a childless father, may not prove a bad coun- 
sellor, my friend, in a moment when there is so 
much doubt besetting thee and thine." 

" Thy mind naturally returns to thine own un- 
happy child, poor Gaetano, when there is so much 
question of the fortunes of mine." 

The Signer Grimaldi turned his look on his 
friend, but the gleam of anguish, w^hich was wont 
to pass athwart his countenance when his mind 
was drawn powerfully towards that painful subject, 
betrayed that he was not just then able to reply. 

" We see in all these events," continued the 
Genoese, as if too full of his subject to restrain his 
words, " the unsearchable designs of Providence. 
Here is a youth who is all that a father could desire ; 
worthy in every sense to be the depository of a 
beloved and only daughter's weal ; manly, brave, 
virtuous, and noble in all but the chances of blood, 
and yet so accursed by the world's opinion that 
we might scarce venture to name him as the as- 
sociate of an idle hour, were the fact known that 
he is the man he has declared himself to be !" 

" You put the matter in strong language, Signer 
Grimaldi ;" said Adelheid, starting. 

" A youth of a form so commanding that a king 



220 THE HEADSMAN. 

might exult at the prospect of his crown descend- 
ing on such a head; of a perfection of strength 
and masculine excellence that will almost justify 
the dangerous exultation of health and vigor ; of 
a reason that is riper than his years; of a virtue 
of proof; of all qualities that we respect^ and which 
come of study and not of accident, and yet a 
youth condemned of men to live under the re- 
proach of their hatred and contempt, or to con- 
ceal for ever the name of the mother that bore 
him ! Compare this Sigismund with others that 
may be named ; with the high-born and pampered 
heir of some illustrious house, who riots in men's 
respect while he shocks men's morals ; who pre- 
sumes on privilege to trifle with the sacred and 
the just; who lives for self, and that in base enjoy- 
ments; who is fitter to be the lunatic's companion 
than any other's, though destined to rule in the 
council; who is the type of the wicked, though 
called to preside over the virtuous ; who cannot 
be esteemed, though entitled to be honored ; and 
let us ask why this is so, what is the wisdom which 
hath drawn diflerences so arbitrary, and which, 
while proclaiming the necessity of justice, so openly, 
so wantonly, and so ingeniously sets its plainest 
dictates at defiance ?" 

*' Signore, it should not be thus — God never in- 
tended it should be so !" 

*' While every principle would seem to say that 
each must stand or fall by his own good or evil 
deeds, that men are to be honored as they merit, 
every device of human institutions is exerted to 
achieve the opposite. This is exalted, because his 
ancestry is noble ; that condemned for no better 
reason than that he is born vile. Melchior ! Mel- 
chior! our reason is unhinged by subtleties, and 
our boasted philosophy and right are no more than 



THE HEADSMAX. 221 

unblushing mockeries, at which the very devils 
laugh !" 

" And yet the commandments of God tell us, 
Gaetano, that the sins of the father shall be visited 
on the descendants from generation to generation. 
You of Rome pay not this close attention, per- 
haps, to sacred writ, but I have heard it said that 
we have not in Berne a law for w^hich good war- 
ranty cannot be found in the holy volume itself." 

" Ay, there are sophists to prove all that they 
wish. The crimes and follies of the ancestor leave 
their physical, or even their moral taint, on the 
child, beyond a question, good Melchior ; — but is 
not this sufficient? Are we blasphemously, even 
impiously, to pretend that God has not sufficiently 
provided for the punishment of the breaches of his 
wise ordinances, that we must come forward to 
second them by arbitrary and heartless rules of 
our own? What crime is imputable to the family 
of this youth beyond that of poverty, which prob- 
ably drove the first of his race to the execution of 
their revolting office. There is little in the mien 
or morals of Sigismund to denote the visitations 
of Heaven's wise decrees, but there is everything 
in his present situation to proclaim the injustice of 
man." 

" And dost thou, Gaetano Grimaldi, the ally of 
so many ancient and illustrious houses — thou, Gae- 
tano Grimaldi, the honored of Genoa — dost thou 
counsel me to give my only child, the heiress of 
my lands and name, to the son of the public exe- 
cutioner, nay, to the very heritor of his disgusting 
duties !" 

" There thou hast me on the hip, Melchior ; the 
question is put strongly, and needs reflection foi 
an answer. Oh ! why is this Balthazar so rich in 
offspring, and I so poor ? But we will not press the 
matter ; it is an affair of many sides, and should 
T 2 



222 THE HEADSMAN. 

be judged by us as men, as well as nobles. Daugh- 
ter, thou hast just learned, by the words of thy 
father, that I am against thee, by position and her- 
itage, for, while I condemn the principle of this 
wrong, I cannot overlook its effects, and never be- 
fore did a case of as tangled difficulty, one in which 
right was so palpably opposed by opinion, present 
itself for my judgment. Leave us, that we may 
command ourselves ; the required decision exacts 
much care, and greater mastery of ourselves than 
I can exercise, with that sweet pale face of thine 
appealing so eloquently to my heart in behalf of 
the noble boy." 

Adelheid arose, and first offering her marble- 
like brow to the salutations of both her parents, 
for the ancient friendship and strong sympathies 
of the Genoese, gave him a claim to this appella- 
tion in her affections at least, she silently withdrew. 
As to the conversation which ensued between the 
old nobles, we momentarily drop the curtain, to 
proceed to other incidents of our narrative. It 
may, however, be generally observed that the day 
Massed quietly away, without the occurrence of 
any event which it is necessary to relate, all in 
the chateau, with the exception of the travellers, 
being principally occupied by the approaching fes- 
tivities. The Signor Grimaldi sought an occasion 
to have a long and confidential communication with 
Sigismund, who, on his part, carefully avoided be- 
ing seen again by her who had so great an influ- 
ence on his feelings, until both had time to recover 
their self-command. 



THE HEADSMAN. 223 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Hold, hurt him not, for God's sake ; — he is mad. 

Comedy of Errors. 

The festivals of Bacchus are supposed to have 
been the models of those long-continued festivities, 
which are still known in Switzerland by the name 
of the Abbaye des Vignerons. 

This fete w^as originally of a simple and rustic 
character, being far from possessing the labored 
ceremonies and classical allegories of a later day, 
the severity of monkish discipline most probably 
prohibiting the introduction of allusions to the 
Heathen mythology, as w^as afterwards practised ; 
for certain religious communities that were the 
proprietors of large vineyards in that vicinity ap- 
pear to have been the first known patrons of the 
custom. So long as a severe simpHcity reigned 
in the festivities, they were annually observed; but, 
wlien heavier expenses and greater preparations 
became necessary, longer intervals succeeded ; the 
Abbaye, at first, causing its festival to become 
triennial, and subsequently extending the period of 
vacation to six years. As greater time was ob- 
tained for the collection of means and inclination, 
the festival gained in eclat, until it came at length 
to be a species of jubilee, to which the idle, the 
curious, and the observant of all the adjacent ter- 
ritories w^ere accustomed to resort in crowds. The 
town of Vevey profited by the circumstance, the 
usual motive of interest being enlisted in behalf of 
the usage, and, down to the epoch of the great 
European revolution, there would seem to have 
been an unbroken succession of the fetes. The 
occasion to which there has so often been allusion, 



224 THE HEADSMAN'. 

was one of the regular and long-expected festivals; 
and, as report had spoken largely of the prepara- 
tions, the attendance was even more numerous 
than usual. 

Early on the morning of the second day after 
the arrival of our travellers at the neighboring 
castle of Blonay, a body of men, dressed in the 
guise of halberdiers, a species of troops then known 
in most of the courts of Europe, marched into the 
great square of Vevey, taking possession of all its 
centre, and posting its sentries in such a manner as 
to interdict the usual passages of the place. This 
was the preliminary step in the coming festivities ; 
for this was the spot chosen for the scene of most 
of the ceremonies of the day. The curious were 
not long behind the guards, and by the time the 
sun had fairly arisen above the hills of Fribourg, 
some thousands of spectators were pressing in and 
about the avenues of the square, and boats from 
the opposite shores of Savoy were arriving at eacn 
instant, crowded to the water's edge with peasants 
and their families. 

Near the upper end of the square, capacious 
scaffoldings had been erected to contain those who 
were privileged by rank, or those who were able 
to buy honors with the vulgar medium ; while 
humbler preparations for the less fortunate com- 
pleted the three sides of a space that was in the 
form of a parallelogram, and which was intended 
to receive the actors in the coming scene. The 
side next the water was unoccupied, though a 
forest of latine spars, and a platform of decks, more 
than supplied the deficiency of scaffolding and 
room. Music was heard, from time to time, inter- 
mingled or relieved by those wild Alpine cries 
which characterize the songs of the mountaineers. 
The authorities of the town were early afoot, and, 
as is customary with the important agents of small 



THE HEADSMAN. 225 

.concerns, they were exercising their municipal 
function with a bustle, which of itself contained 
reasonable evidence that they were of no great 
moment, and a gravity of mien with which the 
chiefs of a state might have believed it possible to 
dispense. 

The estrade, or stage, erected for the superior 
class of spectators was decorated with flags, and 
a portion near its centre had a fair display of 
tapestry and silken hangings. The chateau-look- 
ing edifice near the bottom of the square, and 
whose windows, according to a common Swiss 
and German usage, showed the intermingled stripes 
that denoted it to be public property, were also gay 
in colors, for the ensign of the Republic floated 
over its pointed roofs, and rich silks waved against 
the walls. This was the official residence of Peter 
Hofmeister, the functionary whom we have already 
introduced to the reader. 

An hour later, a shot gave the signal for the 
various troupes to appear, and soon after, parties 
of the different actors arrived in the square. As 
the little processions approached to the sound of 
the trumpet or horn, curiosity became more active, 
and the populace was permitted to circulate in 
those portions of the square that were not imme- 
diately required for other purposes. About this 
time, a solitary individual appeared on the stage. 
He seemed to enjoy peculiar privileges, not only 
from his situation, but by the loud salutations and 
noisy welcomes with which he was greeted from 
the crowd below. It was the good monk of St. 
Bernard, who, with a bare head and a joyous con- 
tented face, answered to the several calls of the 
peasants^ most of whom had either bestowed hos- 
pitality on the worthy Augustine, in his many 
journeyings among the charitable of the lower 
world, or had received it at his hands in their fre- 



226 THE HEADSMAN'. 

quent passages of the mountain. These recogni- 
tions and greetings spoke well for humanity ; for 
in every instance they wore the air of cordial 
good-will, and a readiness to do honor to the benev- 
olent character of the religious community that 
was represented in the person of its clavier or 
steward. 

" Good luck to thee, Father Xavier, and a rich 
quetCy' cried a burly peasant ; " thou hast of late 
unkindly forgotten Benoit Emery and his. When 
did a clavier of St. Bernard ever knock at my door, 
and go away with an empty hand? We look for 
thee, reverend monk, with thy vessel, to-morrow ; 
for the summer has been hot, the grapes are rich, 
and the wine is beginning to run freely in our tubs. 
Thou shalt dip without any to look at thee, and, 
take it of which color thou wilt, thou shalt take it 
with a welcome." 

" Thanks, thanks, generous Benoit ; St. Augus- 
tine will remember the favor, and thy fruitful vines 
will be none the poorer for thy generosity. We 
ask only that we may give, and on none do we 
bestow more willingly than on the honest Vaudois, 
whom may the saints keep in mind for their kind- 
ness and good-will !" 

"Nay, I will have none of thy saints; thou 
knowest we are St. Calvin's men in Vaud, if there 
must be any canonized. But what is it to us that 
thou hearest mass, while we love the simple wor- 
ship! Are we not equally men? Does not the 
frost nip the members of Catholic and Protestant 
the same ? or does the avalanche respect one more 
than the other ? I never knew thee, or any of thy 
convent, question the frozen traveller of his faith, 
but all are fed, and warmed, and, at need, admin- 
istered to from the pharmacy, with brotherly care, 
and as Christians merit. Whatever thou mayest 
think of the state of our souls, thou on thy moun- 



THE HEADSMAN^ 22't 

tain there, no one will deny thy tender services to 
our bodies. Say I well, neighbors, or is this only 
the foohsh gossip of old Benoit, who has crossed 
the Col so often, that he has forgotten that our 
churches have quarrelled, and that the learned 
will have us go to heaven by different roads V* 

A general movement among the people, and a 
tossing of hands, appeared in support of the truth 
and popularity of the honest peasant's sentiments, 
for in that age the hospice of St. Bernard, more 
exclusively a refuge for the real and poor travel- 
ler than at present, enjoyed a merited reputation 
in all the country round. 

" Thou shalt always be welcome on the pass, 
thou and thy friends, and all others in the shape 
of men, without other interference in thy opinions 
than secret prayers ;" returned the good-humored 
and happy-looking clavier, whose round contented 
face shone partly in habitual joy, partly in gratifi- 
cation at this pubhc testimonial in favor of the 
brotherhood, and a little in satisfaction perhaps at 
the promise of an ample addition to the convent's 
stores; for the community of St. Bernard, while 
so much was going out, had a natural and justifia- 
ble desire to see some return for its incessant and 
unwearied liberality. " Thou wilt not deny us the 
happiness of praying for those we love, though it 
happen to be in a manner different from that in 
which they ask blessings for themselves." 

"Have it thine own way, good canon; I am 
none of those who are ready to refuse a favor 
because it savors of Rome. But what has be- 
come of our friend Uberto? He rarely comes 
into the valleys, that we are not anxious to see his 
glossy coat." 

The Augustine gave the customary call, and the 
mastiff mounted the stage with a grave deliberate 
step, as if conscious of the dignity and usefulness 



THE HEADSMAN. 

of the life he led, and like a dog accustomed to 
the friendly notice of man. The appearance of 
this well-known and celebrated brute caused an- 
other stir in the throng, many pressing upon the 
guards to get a nearer view, and a few casting 
fragments of food from their wallets, as tokens of 
gratitude and regard. In the midst of this little 
by-play of good feeling, a dark shaggy animal 
leaped upon the scaffolding, and very coolly com- 
menced, with an activity that denoted the influence 
of the keen mountain air on his appetite, picking 
up the different particles of meat that had, as yet, 
escaped the eye of Uberto. The intruder was 
received much in the manner that an unpopular or 
an offending actor is made to undergo the hos- 
tilities of pit and galleries, to revenge some slight 
or neglect for which he has forgotten or refused 
to atone. In other words, he was incontinently 
and mercilessly pehed with such missiles as first 
presented themselves. The unknown animal, which 
the reader, however, will not be slow in recogniz- 
ing to be the water-dog of II Maledetto, received 
these unusual visitations with some surprise, and 
rather awkwardly ; for, in his proper sphere, Net- 
tuno had been quite as much accustomed to meet 
with demonstrations of friendship from the race 
he so faithfully served, as any of the far-famed 
and petted mastiffs of the convent. After dodging 
sundry stones and clubs, as well as a pretty close 
attention to the principal matter in hand would al- 
low, and with a dexterity that did equal credit to 
his coolness and muscle, a missile of formidable 
weight took the unfortunate follower of Maso in 
the side, and sent him howling from the stage. At 
the next instant, his master was at the throat of 
the offender, throttling him till he was black in the 
face. 

The unlucky stone had come from Conrad. For- 



THE HEADSMAI«r. 22d 

getful of his assumed character, he had joined in 
the hue and cry against a dog whose character 
and service should have been sufficiently known 
to him, at least, to prove his protection, and had 
given the crudest blow of all. It has been al- 
ready seen that there was little friendship between 
Maso and the pilgrim, for the former appeared to 
have an instinctive dislike of the latter's calling, 
and this little occurrence was not of a character 
likely to restore the peace between them. 

"Thou, too!" cried the Italian, whose blood had 
mounted at the first attack on his faithful follower, 
and which fairly boiled when he witnessed the 
cowardly and wanton conduct of this new assail- 
ant — " art not satisfied with feigning prayers and 
godliness with the credulous, but thou must even 
feign enmity to my dog, because it is the fashion 
to praise the cur of St. Bernard at the expense of 
all other brutes ! Reptile ! — dost not dread the 
arm of an honest man, when raised against thee in 
just anger?" 

*' Friends — Vevaisans — honorable citizens !" 
gasped the pilgrim, as the gripe of Maso permit- 
ted breath. " I am Conrad, a poor, miserable, re- 
pentant pilgrim — Will ye see me murdered for a 
brute?" 

Such a contest could not continue long in such a 
place. At first the pressure of the curious, and 
the great density of the crowd, rather favored the 
attack of the mariner ; but in the end they proved 
his enemies by preventing the possibihty of escap- 
ing from those who were especially charged with 
the care of the public peace. Luckily for Conrad, 
for passion had fairly blinded Maso to the conse- 
quences of his fury, the halberdiers soon forced 
their way into the centre of the living mass, and 
they succeeded in seasonably rescuing him from 
the deadly gripe of his assailant. II Maledetto 

Vol. I. U 



230 THE HEADSMAN* 

trembled with the reaction of this hot sally, the 
moment his gripe was forcibly released, and he 
would have disappeared as soon as possible, had 
it been the pleasure of those into whose hands he 
had fallen to permit so politic a step. But now 
commenced the war of words, and the clamor o 
voices, which usually succeed, as well as precede, 
all contests of a popular nature. The officer in 
charge of this portion of the square questioned ; 
twenty answered in a breath, not only drowning 
each other's voices, but effectually contradicting 
all that was said in the way of explanation. One 
maintained that Conrad had not been content with 
attacking Maso's dog, but that he had followed up 
the blow by offering a personal indignity to the 
master himself; this was the publican in whose 
house the mariner had taken up his abode, and in 
which he had been sufficiently liberal in his expen- 
diture fairly to entitle him . to the hospitable sup- 
port of its landlord. Another professed his readi- 
ness to swear that the dog was the property of the 
pilgrim, being accustomed to carry his wallet, and 
that Maso, owing to an ancient grudge against 
both master and beast, had hurled the stone which 
sent the animal away howling, and had resented a 
mild remonstrance of its owner in the^extraordi- 
nary manner that all had seen. This witness was 
the Neapolitan juggler, Pippo, who had much at- 
tached himself to the person of Conrad since the 
adventure of the bark, and who was both ready 
and willing to affirm anything in behalf of a friend 
who had so evident need of his testimony, if it 
were only on the score of boon-companionship. 
A third declared that the dog belonged truly to the 
Italian, that the stone had been really hurled by 
one who stood near the pilgrim, who had been 
wrongfully accused of the offence by Maso ; that 
the latter had made his attack under a false im- 



THE HEADSMAN 231 

pression, and richly merited punishment for the 
unceremonious manner in which he had stopped 
Conrad's breath. This witness was perfectly hon- 
est, but of a vulgar and credulous mind. He at- 
tributed the original offence to one near that hap- 
pened to have a bad name, and who was very lia- 
ble to father every sin that, by possibility, could be 
laid at his door, as well as some that could not. 
On the other hand, he had also been duped that 
morning by the pilgrim's superabundant profes- 
sions of religious zeal, a circumstance that of itself 
would have prevented him from detecting Conrad's 
arm in the air as it cast the stone, and which 
served greatly to increase his certainty that the first 
offence came from the luckless wight just alluded 
to; since they who discriminate under general 
convictions and popular prejudices, usually heap 
all the odium they pertinaciously withhold from the 
lucky and the favored, on those who seem fated by 
general consent to be the common target of the 
world's darts. 

The officer, by the time he had deliberately 
heard the three principal witnesses, together with 
the confounding explanations of those who pro- 
fessed to be only half-informed in the matter, was 
utterly at a loss to decide which had been right 
and which wrong. He came, therefore, to the 
safe conclusion to send all the parties to the guard- 
house, including the witnesses, being quite sure 
that he had hit on an eflfectual method of visiting 
the true criminal with punishment, and of admon- 
ishing all those who gave evidence in future to 
have a care of the manner in which they contra- 
dicted each other. Just as this equitable decision 
was pronounced, the sound of a trumpet proclaim- 
ed the approach of a division of the principal mum- 
mers, if so irreverent a term can be applied to men 
engaged in a festival as justly renowned as that of 



232 THE HEADSMAN. 

the vine-dressers. This announcement greatly 
quickened the steps of Justice, for they who were 
charged with the execution of her decrees felt the 
necessity of being prompt, under the penalty of 
losing an interesting portion of the spectacle. 
Actuated by this new impulse, which, if not as 
respectable, was quite as strong, as the desire to 
do right, the disturbers of the peace, even to those 
who had shown a quarrelsome temper by telling 
stories that gave each other the lie, were hurried 
away in a body, and the public was left in the en- 
joyment of that tranquillity which, in these peril- 
ous times of revolution and changes, is thought to 
to be so necessary to its dignity, so especially 
favorable to commerce, and so grateful to those 
whose duty it is to preserve the pubUc peace with 
as little inconvenience to themselves as possible. 

A blast of the trumpet was the signal for a more 
general movement, for it announced the commence- 
ment of the ceremonies. As it will be presently 
necessary to speak of the different personages who 
were represented on this joyous occasion, we shall 
only say here, that group after group of the actors 
came into the square, each party marching to the 
sound of music from its particular point of rendez- 
vous to the common centre. The stage now began 
to fill with the privileged, among whom were many 
of the high aristocracy of the ruling canton, most 
of its oflicials, who were too dignified to be more 
than complacent spectators of revels like these, 
many nobles of mark from France and Italy, a 
few travellers from England, for in that age Eng- 
land was deemed a distant country and sent forth 
but a few of her elite to represent her on such 
occasions, most of those from the adjoining terri- 
tories who could afford the time and cost, and who 
by rank or character were entitled to the distinc- 
tion, and the wives and families of the local officers 



THE HEADSMAN. 233 

who happened to be engaged as actors in the re- 
presentation. By the time the different parts of the 
principal procession were assembled in the square, 
all the seats of the estrade were crowded, with 
the exception of those reserved for the bailiff and 
his immediate friends. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

So once were ranged the sons of ancient Rome, 
A noble show I While Roscius trod the stage. 

*" COWPER. 

The day was not yet far advanced, when all 
the component parts of the grand procession had 
arrived in the square. Shortly after, a flourish of 
clarions gave notice of the approach of the authori- 
ties. Pirst came the bailiff", filled with the dignity 
of station, and watching, with a vigilant but covert 
eye, every indication of feeling that might prove 
of interest to his employers, even while he most 
affected sympathy with the occasion and self-aban- 
donment to the follies of the hour; for Peter Hof- 
meister owed his long-established favor with the 
biirgerschaft more to a never-slumbering regard 
to its exclusive interests and its undivided supre- 
macy, than to any particular skill in the art of ren- 
dering men comfortable and happy. Next to the 
worthy baihff, for apart from an indomitable reso- 
lution to maintain the authority of his masters, for 
good or for evil, the Herr Hofmeister merited the 
appellation of a worthy man, came Roger de Blo- 
nay and his guest the Baron de Willading, march- 
ing, pan passu, at the side of the representative of 
Berne himself. There might have been some 
U2 



234 THE HEADSMAK. 

question how far the baiUfF was satisfied with this 
arrangement of the difficult point of etiquette, for 
he issued from his own gate with a sort of side- 
long movement that kept him nearly confronted 
to the Signor Grimaldi, though it left him the 
means of choosing his path and of observing the 
aspect of things in the crowd. At any rate, the 
Genoese, though apparently occupying a seconda- 
ry station, had no grounds to complain of indiifer- 
ence to his presence. Most of the observances 
and not a few of the sallies of honest Peter, who 
had some local reputation as a joker and a bel 
esprit, as is apt to be the case with your municipal 
magistrate, more especially when he holds his 
authority independently of the community with 
whom he associates, and perhaps as little likely to 
be the fact when he depends on popular favor for 
his rank, were addressed to the Signor Grimaldi. 
Most of these good things were returned in kind, 
the Genoese meeting the courtesies like a man 
accustomed to be the object of peculiar attentions, 
and possibly like one who rather rioted in the im- 
punity from ceremonies and public observation, 
that he now happened to enjoy. Adelheid, with a 
maiden of the house of Blonay, closed the Uttle 
train. 

As all commendable diligence was used by the 
officers of the peace to make way for the bailiff*, 
Herr Hofmeister and his companions were soon 
in their allotted stations, which, it is scarcely ne- 
cessary to repeat, were the upper places on the 
estrade. Peter had seated himself, after returning 
numerous salutations, for none in a situation to 
catch his eye neglected so fair an opportunity to 
show their intimacy with the bailiff", when his wan- 
dering glance fell upon the happy visage of Father 
Xavier. Rising hastily, the bailiff' went through 
a multitude of the formal ceremonies that distin- 



TflC ilEADSMAff. 235 

guished the courtesy of the place and period, such 
as frequent wavings and liftings of the beaver, 
profound reverences, smiles that seemed to flow 
from the heart, and a variety of other tokens of 
extraordinary love and respect. When all were 
ended, he resumed his place by the side of Mel- 
chior de Willading, with whom he commenced a 
confidential dialogue. 

" We know not, noble Freiherr," (he spoke in 
the vernacular of their common canton,) ''whether 
we have most reason to esteem or to disrelish these 
Augustines. While they do so many Christian acts 
to the travellers on their mountain yonder, they 
are devils incarnate in the way of upholding popery 
and its abominations among the people. Look you, 
the commonalty — God bless them as they deserve I 
— have no great skill at doctrinal discussions, and 
are much disposed to be led away by appearances. 
Numberless are the miserable dolts who fancy the 
godhness which is content to pass its time on the 
top of a frozen hill, doing good, feeding the hun- 
gry, dressing the wounds of the fallen, and — but 
thou knowest the manner in which these sayings 
run — the ignorant, as I was about to add, are but 
too ready to believe that the religion which leads 
men to do this, must have some savor of Heaven 
in it, after all !" 

" Are they so very wrong, friend Peter, that we 
were wise to disturb the monks in the enjoyment 
of a favor that is so fairly earned ?" 

The bailiflf looked askance at his brother burgher, 
for such was the humble appellation that aristocracy 
assumed in Berne, appearing desirous to probe the 
depth of the other's political morals before he spoke 
more freely. 

" Though of a house so honored and trusted, I 
believe thou art not much accustomed of late to 
mingle with the council ?" he evasively observed. 



830 THE HEADSMAN. 

" Since the heavy losses in my family, of which 
thou may'st have heard, the care of this sole sur- 
viving child has been my principal solace and oc- 
cupation. I know not whether the frequent and 
near sight of death among those so tenderly loved 
may have softened my heart towards the Augus- 
tines, but to me theirs seems a self-denying and a 
right worthy life." 

" 'Tis doubtless as you say, noble Melchior, and 
we shall do well to let our love for the holy canons 
be seen. Ho ! Mr. Officer — do us the favor to 
request the reverend monk of St. Bernard to draw 
nearer, that the people may learn the esteem in 
which their patient charities and never-wearying 
benevolence are held by the lookers-on. As you 
will have occasion to pass a night beneath the con- 
vent's roof, Herr von Willading, in your journey 
to Italy, a little honor shown to the honest and 
pains-taking clavier will not be lost on the bro- 
therhood, if these churchmen have even a decent 
respect for the usages of their fellow-creatures." 

Father Xavier took the proffered place, which 
was nearer to the person of the bailiff than the 
one he had just quitted, and insomuch the more 
honorable, with the usual thanks, but with a sim- 
plicity which proved that he understood the com- 
pHment to be due to the fraternity of which he 
was a member, and not to himself This little dis- 
position made, as well as all other preliminary 
matters properly observed, the baihff seemed sat- 
isfied with himself and his arrangements, for the 
moment. 

The reader must imagine the stir in the throng, 
the importance of the minor agents appointed to 
marshal the procession, and the mixture of weari- 
ness and curiosity that possessed the spectators, 
while the several parts of so compHcated and nu- 
merous a train were getting arranged, each in its 



THE HEADSMAff. 237 

prescribed order and station. But, as the cerenrio- 
nies which followed were of a peculiar character, 
and have an intimate connexion with the events of 
the tale, we shall describe them with a little detail, 
although the task we have allotted to ourselves is 
less that of sketching pictures of local usages, and 
of setting before the reader's imagination scenes 
of real or fancied antiquarian accuracy, than the 
exposition of a principle, and the wholesome moral 
which we have always flattered ourselves might, 
in a greater or less degree, follow from our labors, 

A short time previously to the commencement 
of the ceremonies, a guard of honor, composed of 
shepherds, gardeners, mow^ers, reapers, vine-dres- 
sers, escorted by halberdiers and headed by music, 
had left the square in quest of the abbe, as the 
regular and permanent presiding officer of the ab- 
baye, or company, is termed. This escort, all the 
individuals of which were dressed in character, 
was not long in making its appearance with the 
officer in question, a warm, substantial citizen and 
proprietor of the place, who, otherwise attired in 
the ordinary costume of his class in that age, had 
decorated his beaver with a v/aving plume, and, 
in addition to a staflf or baton, wore a flowing 
scarf pendent from his shoulder. This personage, 
on whom certain judicial functions had devolved, 
took a convenient position in the front of the stage, 
and soon made a sign for the officials to proceed 
with their duties. 

Twelve vine-dressers led by a chief, each having 
his person more or less ornamented with garlands 
of vine-leaves, and bearing other emblems of his 
caUing, marched in a body, chanting a song of the 
fields. They escorted two of their number who 
had been pronounced the most skilful and success- 
ful in cultivating the vineyards of the adjacent 
cotes. When they reached the front of the estrade, 



238 THE HEADSMAN. 

the abbe pronounced a short discourse in honor of 
the cultivators of the earth in general, after which 
he digressed into especial eulogiums on the suc- 
cessful candidates, two pleased, abashed, and un- 
practised peasants, who received the simple prizes 
with throbbing hearts. This little ceremony ob- 
served, amid the eager and delightful gaze of 
friends, and the oblique and discontented regards 
of the few whose feelings were too contracted to 
open to the joys of others, even on this simple and 
grateful festival, the trumpets sounded again, and 
the cry was raised to make room. 

A large group advanced from among the body 
of the actors to an open space, of sufficient size 
and elevation, immediately in front of the stage. 
When in full view of the multitude, those who com- 
posed it arranged themselves in a prescribed and 
seemly order. They were the officials of Bacchus. 
The high-priest, robed in a sacrificial dress, with 
flowing beard, and head crowned with the vine, 
stood foremost, chanting in honor of the craft of 
the vine-dresser. His song also contained a few 
apposite allusions to the smiling blushing candidates. 
The whole joined in the chorus, though the leader 
of the band scarce needed the support of any other 
lungs than those with which he had been very 
amply furnished by nature. 

The hymn ended, a general burst of instrument- 
al music succeeded ; and, the followers of Bacchus 
regaining their allotted station, the general proces- 
sion began to move, sweeping around the whole 
area of the square in a manner to pass in order 
before the bailifi'. 

The first body in the march was composed of 
the council of the abbaye, attended by the shep- 
herds and gardeners. One in an antique costume, 
and bearing a halberd, acted as marshal. He was 
succeeded by the two crowned vine-dressers, after 



THE HEADSMAN* 239 

whom came the abb^ with his counsellors, and 
large groups of shepherds and shepherdesses, as 
well as a number of both sexes who toiled in 
gardens, all attired in costumes suited to the tra- 
ditions of their respective pursuits. The marshal 
and the officers of the abbaye moved slowly past, 
with the gravity and decorum that became their 
stations, occasionally halting to give time for the 
evolutions of those who followed ; but the other 
actors now began in earnest to play their several 
parts. A group of young shepherdesses, clad in 
closely fitting vests of sky-blue with skirts of white, 
each holding her crook, came forward dancing, 
and singing songs that imitated the bleatings of 
their flocks and all the other sounds familiar to 
the elevated pasturages of that region. These were 
soon joined by an equal number of young shepherds 
also singing their pastorals, the whole exhibiting 
an active and merry group of dancers, accustomed 
to exercise their art on the sward of the Alps; 
for, in this festival, although we have spoken of 
the performers as actors, it is not in the literal 
meaning of the term, since, with few exceptions, 
none appeared to represent any other calling than 
that which, in truth, formed his or her daily oc- 
cupation. We shall not detain the narrative to 
say more of this party, than that they formed a 
less striking exception to the conventional picture 
of the appearance of those engaged in tending 
flocks, than the truth ordinarily betrays ; and that 
their buoyant gaiety, blooming faces, and unwea- 
ried action, formed a good introductory prepara- 
tion for the saltation that was to follow. 

The male gardeners appeared in their aprons, 
carrying spades, rakes, and the other implements 
of their trade ; the female supporting baskets on 
their heads filled with rich flowers, vegetables, and 
fruits. When in front of the bailiff*, the young 



240 THE HEADSMAN. 

men formed a sort of fasces of their several im- 
plements, with a readiness that denoted much study, 
while the girls arranged their baskets in a circle 
at its foot. Then, joining hands, the whole whirled 
around, filling the air with a song peculiar to their 
pursuits. 

During the whole of the preparations of the 
morning, Adelheid had looked on with a vacant 
eye, as if her feelings had little connexion with that 
which was passing before her face. It is scarcely 
necessary to say, that her mind, in spite of herself, 
wandered to other scenes, and that her truant 
thoughts were busy with interests very different 
from those which were here presented to the senses. 
But, by the time the group of gardeners had passed 
dancing away, her feelings began to enlist with 
those who were so evidently pleased with them- 
selves and all around them, and her father, for the 
first time that morning, was rewarded for the deep 
attention with which he watched the play of her 
features, by an affectionate and natural smile. 

"This goes off right merrily, Herr Bailiff;" ex- 
claimed the baron, animated by that encouraging 
smile, as the blood is quickened by a genial ray of 
the sun's heat when it has been long chilled and 
deadened by cold. — " This goes off with a joyful 
will, and is likely to end with credit to thy town ! 
I only wonder that you have not more of this, and 
monthly. When joy can be had so cheap, it is 
churlish to deny it to a people." 

" We complain not of the levities, noble Frei- 
herr, for your light thinker makes a sober and 
dutiful subject ; but we shall have more of this, 
and of a far better quality, or our time is wasted. 
— ^What is thought at Berne, noble Melchior, of 
the prospects of the Emperor's obtaining a new 
concession for the levy of troops in our cantons ?" 

" I cry thy mercy, good Peterchen, but by thy 



THE HEADSMAN. 241 

leave, we will touch on these matters more at our 
leisure. Boyish though it seem to thy eyes, so long 
accustomed to look at matters of state, I do confess 
that these follies begin to have their entertainment, 
and may well claim an hour of idleness from him 
that has nothing better in hand." 

Peter Hofmeister ejaculated a little expressively. 
He then examined the countenance of the Signor 
Grimaldi, who had given himself to the merriment 
with the perfect good-will and self-abandonment 
of a man of strong intellect, and who felt his 
powers too sensibly to be jealous of appearances. 
Shrugging his shoulders, like one that was disap- 
pointed, the pragmatical bailiff turned his look 
towards the revellers, in order to detect, if possible, 
some breach of the usages of the country, that 
might require official reproof; for Peter was of 
that class of governors who have an itching to see 
their fingers stirring even the air that is breathed 
by the people, lest they should get it of a quality 
or in a quantity that might prove dangerous to a 
monopoly which it is now the fashion to call the 
conservative principle. In the mean time the revels 
proceeded. 

No sooner had the gardeners quitted the arena, 
than a solemn and imposing train appeared to oc- 
cupy the sward. Four females marched to the 
front, bearing an antique altar that was decorated 
with suitable devices. They were clad in em- 
blematical dresses, and wore garlands of flowers 
on their heads. Boys carrying censers preceded 
an altar that was dedicated to Flora, and her 
ministering official came after it, mitred and car- 
rying flowers. Like all the priestesses that fol- 
lowed, she was laboriously attired in the robes 
that denoted her sacred duty. The goddess her- 
self was borne by four females on a throne cano- 
pied by flowers, and from whose several parts 

Vol. I. V 



242 THE HEADSMAN 

sweeping festoons of every hue and die descended 
to the earth. Haymakers of both sexes, gay and 
pastoral in their air and attire, succeeded, and a 
car groaning with the sweet-scented grass of the 
Alps, accompanied by females bearing rakes, 
brought up the rear. 

The altar and the throne being deposited on the 
sward, the priestess offered sacrifice, hymning the 
praise of the goddess with mountain lungs. Then 
followed the dance of the haymakers, as in the 
preceding exhibition, and the train went off as 
before. 

" Excellent well, and truer than it could be done 
by your real pagan!'' cried the bailiff, who, in spite 
of his official longings, began to watch the mum- 
mery with a pleased eye. " This beateth greatly 
our youthful follies in the Genoese and Lombard 
carnivals, in which, to say truth, there are some- 
times seen rare niceties in the way of representing 
the old deities." 

" Is it the usage, friend Hofmeister," demanded 
the baron, " to enjoy these admirable pleasantries 
often here in Vaud?" 

"We partake of them, from time to time, as 
the abbaye desires, and much as thou seest. The 
honorable Signor Grimaldi — who will pardon me 
that he gets no better treatment than he receives, 
and who will not fail to ascribe what, to all who 
know him, might otherwise pass for inexcusable 
neglect, to his own desire for privacy — he will tell 
us^ should he be pleased to honor us with his real 
opinion, that the subject is none the worse for oc- 
casions to laugh and be gay. Now, there is Ge- 
neva, a town given to subtleties as ingenious and 
compUcated as the machinery of their own watch- 
es; it can never have a merrymaking without a 
leaven of disputation and reason, two as damnable 
ingredients in the public humor as schism in reli- 



THE HEADSMAN. 243 

fion, or two minds in a menage. There is not a 
nave in the city who does not fancy himself a 
better man than Calvin, and some there are who 
believe if they are not cardinals, it is merely be- 
cause the reformed church does not relish legs 
cased in red stockings. By the word of a baiUff ! 
I would not be the ruler, look ye, of such a com- 
munity, for the hope of becoming Avoyer of Berne 
itself. Here it is different. We play our antics 
in the shape of gods and goddesses Hke sober peo- 
ple, and, when all is over, we go train our vines, 
or count our herds, like faithful subjects of the great 
canton. Do I state the matter fairly to our friends, 
Baron de Blonay ?" 

Roger de Blonay bit his lip, for be and his had 
been of Vaud a thousand years, and he little rel- 
ished the allusion to the quiet manner in which his 
countrymen submitted to a compelled and foreign 
dictation. He bowed a cold acquiescence to the 
baihff 's statement, however, as if no farther answer 
were needed. 

" We have other ceremonies that invite our at- 
tention," said Melchior de Willading, who had suf- 
ficient acquaintance with his friend's opinions to 
understand his silence. 

The next group that approached was composed 
of those who lived by the products of the dairy. 
Two cowherds led their beasts, the monotonous 
tones of whose heavy bells- formed a deep and 
rural accompaniment to the music that regularly 
preceded each party, while a train of dairy-girls, 
and of young mountaineers of the class that tend 
the herds in the summer pasturages, succeeded, a 
car loaded with the implements of their calling 
bringing up the rear. In this httle procession, no 
detail of equipment was wanting. The milking- 
stool was strapped to the body of the dairyman ; 
one had the peculiarly constructed pail in his hand, 



244 THE HEADSMAN. 

while another bore at his back the deep wooden 
vessel in which milk is carried up and down the 
precipices to the chalet. When they reached the 
sodded arena, the naen commenced milking the 
cows, the girls set in motion the different processes 
of the dairy, and the whole united in singing the 
Ranz des Vaches of the district. It is generally 
and erroneously believed that there is a particular 
air which is known throughout Switzerland by 
this name, whereas in truth nearly every canton 
has its own song of the mountains, each varying 
from the others in the notes, as well as in the 
words, and we might almost add in the language. 
The Ranz des Vaches of Vaad is in the patois of 
the country, a dialect that is composed of words 
of Greek and Latin origin, mingled on a founda- 
tion of Celtic. Like our own familiar tune, which 
was first bestowed in derision, and which a glorious 
history has enabled us to continue in pride, the 
words are far too numerous to be repeated. We 
shall, however, give the reader a single verse of 
a song which Swiss feeling has rendered so cele- 
brated, and which is said often to induce the 
mountaineer in foreign service to desert the mer- 
cenary standard and the tame scenes of towns, to 
return to the magnificent nature that haunts his 
waking imagination and embeUishes his dreams. 
It will at once be perceived that the power of 
this song is chiefly "to be found in the recollec- 
tions to which it gives birth, by recalling the 
simple charms of rural life, and by reviving the 
indelible impressions that are made by nature 
wherever she has laid her hand on the face of the 
earth with the same majesty as in Switzerland. 

Le zermailli dei Colombette 
De bon matin, se san leha. — 

Refrain. 
Ha, ah ! ha, ah ! 



THE HEADSMAIf. 245 

Liauba ! Liauba ! por aria. 
Venide tote, 
Bllantz' et naire, 
Rodz et motaile, 
Dzjouvan' et etro 
Dezo ou tzehano, 
lo vo z' ario 
Dezo ou triembllo, 
lo ie triudzo, 
Liauba ! Liauba ! por aris.* 

The music of the mountains is pecuhar and wild, 
having most probably received its inspiration from 
the grandeur of the natural objects. Most of the 
sounds partake of the character of echoes, being 
high-keyed but false notes; such as the rocks send 
back to the valleys, vv^hen the voice is raised above 
its natural key in order to reach the caverns and 
savage recesses of inaccessible precipices. Strains 
like these readily recall the glens and the magnifi- 
cence amid which they were first heard, and hence, 
by an irresistible impulse, the mind is led to indulge 
in the strongest of all its sympathies, those which 
are mixed with the unalloyed and unsophisticated 
delights of buoyant childhood. 

The herdsmen and dairymaids no sooner uttered 
the first notes of this magic song, than a deep and 
breathing stillness pervaded the crowd. As the 

* The cowherds of the Alps 
Arise at an early hour. 

Chorus. 
Ha, ah ! ha, ah ! 
Liauba ! Liauba ! in order to milk. 

Come all of you, 

Black and white, 

Red and mottled, 

Young- and old ; 

Beneath this oak 

I am about to milk you, 

Beneath this poplar, 

I am about to press, 

Liauba ! Liauba ! in order to milk. 
V2 



246 THE HEADSMAN. 

peculiar strains of the chorus rose on the ear, mur- 
muring echoes issued from among the spectators, 
and ere the wild intonations could be repeated 
which accompanied the words " Liauba ! Liauba !" 
a thousand voices were lifted simultaneously, as it 
were, to greet the surrounding mountains with the 
salutations of their children. From that moment 
the remainder of the Ranz des Vaches was a com- 
mon burst of enthusiasm, the offspring of that na- 
tional fervor, which forms so strong a link in the 
social chain, and which is capable of recalling to 
the bosom that, in other respects, has been harden- 
ed by vice and crime, a feeling of some of the 
purest sentiments of our nature. 

The last strain died amid this general exhibition 
of healthful feeling. The cowherds and the dairy- 
girls collected their different implements, and re- 
sumed their march to the melancholy music of the 
bells, which formed a deep contrast to the wild 
notes that had just filled the square. 

To these succeeded the followers of Ceres, with 
the altar, the priestess, and the enthroned goddess, 
as has been already described in the approach of 
Flora. Cornucopias ornamented the chair of the 
deity, and the canopy was adorned with the gifts 
of autumn. The whole was surmounted by a sheaf 
of wheat. She held the sickle as her sceptre, and 
a tiara composed of the bearded grain covered her 
brow. Reapers followed, bearing emblems of the 
season of abundance, and gleaners closed the train. 
There was the halt, the chant, the chorus, and the 
song in praise of the beneficent goddess of autumn, 
as had been done by the votaries of the deity of 
flowers. A dance of the reapers and gleaners fol- 
lowed, the threshers flourished their flails, and the 
whole went their way. 

After these came the grand standard of the ab- 
baye, and the vine-dressers, the real objects of the 



THE HEADSMAN. 24'^ 

festival, succeeded. The laborers of the spring 
led the advance, the men carrying their picks and 
spades, and the women vessels to contain the cut- 
tings of the vines. Then came a train bearing 
baskets loaded with the fruit, in its different de- 
grees of perfection and of every shade of color. 
Youths holding staves topped with minature re- 
presentations of the various utensils known in the 
culture of the grape, such as the laborer with the 
tub on his back, the butt, and the vessel that first 
receives the flowing juice, followed. A great num- 
ber of men, who brougiit forward the forge that is 
used to prepare the tools, closed this part of the 
exhibition. The song and the dance again suc- 
ceeded, when the whole disappeared at a signal 
given by the approaching music of Bacchus. As 
we now touch upon the most elaborate part of the 
representation, we seize the interval that is neces- 
sary to bring it forward, in order to take breath 
ourselves. 



CHAPTER XV. 

And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, 

That stand'st between her father's ground and mine 

Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, 

Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne. 

Midsummer AighCs Dream. 

" 'Odds my life, but this goes off with a grace, 
brother Peter !" exclaimed the Baron de Willading, 
as he followed the vine-dressers in their retreat, 
with an amused eye — " If we have much more like 
it, I shall forget the dignity of the biirgerschaft, 
and turn mummer with the rest, though my good 
name for wisdom were the forfeit of the folly." 



248 THE HEADSMAN. 

" That is better said between ourselves than per- 
formed before the vulgar eye, honorable Melchior. 
It would sound ill, of a truth, were these Vaudois 
to boast that a noble of thy estimation in Bern^e 
were thus to forget himself!" 

" None of this ! — are we not here to be merry, 
and to laugh, and to be pleased with any folly that 
offers ? A truce, then, to thy official distrusts and 
superabundant dignity, honest Peterchen," for such 
was the good-natured name by which the worthy 
bailiff was most commonly addressed by his friend; 
" let the tongue freely answer to the heart, as if 
we were boys rioting together, as was once the 
case, long ere thou wert thought of for this office, 
or I knew a sorrowful hour." 

" The Signor Grimaldi shall judge between us : 
I maintain that restraint is necessary to those in 
high trusts." 

*' I will decide when the actors have all played 
their parts," returned the Genoese, smiling ; " at 
present, here cometh one to whom all old soldiers 
pay homage. We will not fail of respect in so 
great a presence, on account of a little difference 
in taste." 

Peter Hofmeister was not a small drinker, and 
as the approach of the god of the cup was announc- 
ed by a flourish from some twenty instruments 
made to speak on a key suited to the vault of 
heaven, he was obliged to reserv^e his opinions for 
another time. After the passage of the musicians, 
and a train of the abbaye's servants, for especial 
honors were paid to the ruby deity, there came 
three officials of the sacrifice, one leading a goat 
with gilded horns, while the two others bore the 
knife and the hatchet. To these succeeded the 
altar adorned with vines, the incense-bearers, and 
the high-priest of Bacchus, who led the way for 
the appearance of the youthful god himself The 



THE HEADSMAxV. 249 

deity was seated astride on a cask, his head encir- 
cled with a garland of generous grapes, bearing a 
cup in one hand, and a vine entwined and fruit- 
crowned sceptre in the other. Four Nubians car- 
ried him on their shoulders, while others shaded 
his form w^ith an appropriate canopy ; fauns wear- 
ing tiger-skins, and playing their characteristic 
antics, danced in his train, while twenty laughing 
and light-footed Bacchantes flourished their instru- 
ments, moving in measure in the rear. 

A general shout in the multitude preceded the 
appearance of Silenus, w'ho was sustained in his 
place on an ass by two blackamoors. The half- 
empty skin at his side, the vacant laugh, the foolish 
eye, the lolling tongue, the bloated lip, and the 
idiotic countenance, gave reason to suspect that 
there w^as a better motive for their support than 
any which belonged to the truth of the represent- 
ation. Two youths then advanced, bearing on a 
pole a cluster of grapes that nearly descended to 
the ground, and which was intended to represent 
the fruit brought from Canaan by the messengers 
of Joshua — a symbol much affected by the artists 
and mummers of the other hemisphere, on occasions 
suited to its display. A huge vehicle, ycleped the 
ark of Noah, closed the procession. It held a w^ine- 
press, having its workmen embowered among the 
vines, and it contained the family of the second 
father of the human race. As it rolled past, traces 
of the rich liquor were left in the tracks of its 
wheels. 

Then came the sacrifice, the chant, and the 
dance, as in most of the preceding exhibitions, each 
of which, like this of Bacchus, had contained allu- 
sions to the peculiar habits and attributes of the 
different deities. The bacchanal that closed the 
scene was performed in character ; the trumpets 



260 THE HEADSMAPr. 

flourished, and the procession departed in the order 
in which it had arrived. 

Peter relented a Httle from his usual political re- 
serve, as he witnessed these games in honor of a 
deity to whom he so habitually did practical homage, 
for it was seldom that this elaborate functionary, 
who might be termed quite a doctrinaire in his 
way, composed his senses in sleep, without having 
pretty effectually steeped them in the liquor of the 
neighboring hills; a habit that was of far more 
general use among men of his class in that age 
than in this of ours, which seems so eminently to 
be the season of sobriety. 

" This is not amiss, of a verity ;" observed the 
contented bailiff, as the Fauns and Bacchantes 
moved off the sward, capering and cutting their 
classical antics with far more agility and zeal than 
grace. " This looks like the inspiration of good 
wine, Signior Genoese, and were the truth known, 
it would be found that the rogue who plays the 
part of the fat person on the ass — how dost call 
the knave, noble Melchior?" 

" Body o' me ! if I am wiser than thyself, worthy 
bailiff; it is clearly a rogue who can never have 
done his mummery so expertly, without some aid 
from the flask." 

" Twill be well to know the fellow's character, 
for there may be the occasion to commend him to 
the gentlemen of the abbaye, when all is over. 
Your skilful ruler has two great instruments that 
he need use with discretion, Baron de Willading, 
and these are, fear and flattery ; and Berne hath 
no servant more ready to apply both, or either, as 
there may be necessity, than one of her poor 
bailiffs that hath not received all his dues from the 
general opinion, if truth were spoken. But it is 
well to be prepared to speak these good people of 
the abbaye fairly, touching their exploits. Harkee, 



THE HEADSMAN. 251 

master halberdier ; thou art of V^vey, I think, and 
a warm citizen in thy every-day character, or my 
eyes do us both injustice." 

" I am, as you have said, Monsieur le Bailli, a 
V^vaisan, and one that is well known among our 
artisans." 

"True, that was visible, spite of thy halberd. 
Thou art, no doubt, rarely gifted, and taught to the 
letter in these games. Wilt name the character 
that has just ridden past on the ass — he that hath 
so well enacted the drunkard, I mean ? His name 
hath gone out of our minds for the moment, though 
his acting never can, for a better performance of 
one overcome by liquor is seldom seen." 

" Lord keep you ! worshipful baiUff, that is 
Antoine Giraud, the fat butcher of La Tour de 
Peil, and a better at the cup there is not in all the 
country of Vaud ! No wonder that he hath done 
his part so readily ; for, while the others have been 
reading in books, or drilling like so many awkward 
recruits under the school-master, Antoine hath had 
little more to perform than to dip into the skin at 
his elbow. When the officers of the abbaye com- 
plain, lest he should disturb the ceremonies, he bids 
them not to make fools of themselves, for every 
swallow he gives is just so much done in honor of 
the representation ; and he swears, by the creed of 
Calvin ! that there shall be more truth in his acting 
than in that of any other of the whole party." 

" 'Odds my hfe ! the fellow hath humor as well 
as good acting in him — this Antoine Giraud! Will 
you look into the written order they have given 
us, fair Adelheid, that we may make sure this arti- 
san-halberdier hath not deceived us 1 We in 
authority must not trust a Vevaisan too lightly." 

" It will be vain, I fear, Herr Bailiff, since the 
characters, and not the names of the actors, appear 
in the Usts. The man in question represents Sile- 



252 THE HEADSMAN. 

nus I should think, judging from his appearance 
and all the other circumstances." 

"Well, let it be as thou wilt. Silenus himself 
could not play his own part better than it hath 
been done by this Antoine Giraud. The fellow 
would gain gold like water at the court of the 
emperor as a mime, were he only advised to resort 
thither. I warrant you, now, he would do Pluto, 
or Minerva, or any other god, just as well as he 
hath done this rogue Silenus !" 

The honest admiration of Peter, who, sooth to 
say, had not much of the learning of the age, as 
the phrase is, raised a smile on the lip of the beau- 
teous daughter of the baron, and she glanced a 
look to catch the eye of Sigismund, towards whom 
all her secret sympathies, whether of sorrow or of 
joy, so naturally and so strongly tended. But the 
averted head, the fixed attention, and the nearly 
immovable and statue-like attitude in which he 
stood, showed that a more powerful interest drew 
his gaze to the next group. Though ignorant of the 
cause of his intense regard, Adelheid instantly 
forgot the bailiff, his dogmatism, and his want of 
erudition, in the wish to examine those who ap- 
proached. 

The more classical portion of the ceremonies 
was now duly observed. The council of the 
abbaye intended to close with an exhibition that 
was more intelligible to the mass of the spectators 
than anything which had preceded it, since it was 
addressed to the sympathies and habits of every 
people, and in all conditions of society. This was 
the spectacle that so cngrossingly attracted the 
attention of Sigismund. It was termed the pro- 
cession of the nuptials, and it was now slowly 
advancing to occupy the space left vacant by the 
retreat of Antoine Giraud and his companions. 

There came in front the customary band, play- 



THE HEADSMAN. 253 

ing a lively air which use has long appropriated to 
the festivities of Hymen. The lord of the manor, 
or, as he was termed, the baron, and his lady-part- 
ner led the train, both apparelled in the rich and 
quaint attire of the period. Six ancient couples, 
he representatives of happy married lives, follow- 
ed by a long succession of offspring of every age, 
including equally the infant at the breast and the 
husband and wife in the flower of their days, walk- 
ed next to the noble pair. Then appeared the sec- 
tion of a dwelling, which was made to portray the 
interior of domestic economy, having its kitchen, 
its utensils, and most of the useful and necessary 
objects that may be said to compose the material 
elements of an humble menage. Within this moiety 
of a house, one female plied the wheel, and an- 
other was occupied in baking. The notary, bear- 
ing the register beneath an afm, with hat in hand, 
and dressed in an exaggerated costume of his pro- 
fession, strutted in the rear of the two industrious 
housemaids. His appearance was greeted with a 
general laugh, for the spectators relished the humor 
of the caricature with infinite gout. But this sud- 
den and general burst of merriment was as quick- 
ly forgotten in the desire to behold the bride and 
bridegroom, whose station was next to that of the 
officer of the law. It was understood that these 
parties were not actors, but that the abbaye had 
sought out a couple, of corresponding rank and 
means, who had consented to join their fortunes in 
reality on the occasion of this great jubilee, there- 
by lending to it a greater appearance of that 
genuine joy and festivity which it was the desire 
of the heads of the association to represent. Such 
a search had not been made without exciting deep 
interest in the simple communities which surround- 
ed V^vey. Many requisites had been proclaimed 
to be necessary in the candidates — such as beauty, 
Vol. I. W 



254 THE HEADSMAN. 

modesty, merit, and the submission of her sex, in 
the bride; and in her partner those quahties which 
might fairly entitle him to be the repository of the 
happiness of a maiden so endowed. 

Many had been the speculations of the Vevaisans 
touching the individuals who had been selected to 
perform these grave and important characters, 
which, for fidelity of representation, were to outdo 
that of Silenus himself; but so much care had been 
taken by the agents of the abbaye to conceal the 
names of those they had selected, that, until this 
moment, when disguise was no longer possible, the 
pubHc was completely in the dark on the interesting 
point. It was so usual to make matches of this 
kind on occasions of public rejoicing, and mar- 
riages of convenience, as they are not unaptly 
termed, enter so completely into the habits of all 
European communities — perhaps we might say of 
all old communities — that common opinion would 
not have been violently outraged had it been known 
that the chosen pair saw each other for the second 
or third time in the procession, and that they had 
now presented themselves to take the nuptial vow, 
as it were, at the sound of the trumpet or the beat 
of drum. Still, it was more usual to consult the 
inclinations of the parties, since it gave greater 
zest to the ceremony, and these selections of couples 
on public occasions were generally supposed to 
have more than the common interest of marriages, 
since they were believed to be the means of uni- 
ting, through the agency of the rich and powerful, 
those whom poverty or other adverse circum- 
stances had hitherto kept asunder. Rumor spoke 
of many an inexorable father who had listened to 
reason from the mouths of the great, rather than 
balk the public humor; and thousands of pining 
hearts, among the obscure and simple, are even 
now gladdened at the approach of some joyous 



THE HEADSMAN'. 255 

ceremony, which is expected to throw open the 
gates of the prison to the debtor and the criminal, 
or that of Hymen to those who are richer in con- 
stancy and affection than in any other stores. 

A general murmur and a common movement 
betrayed the lively interest of the spectators, as 
the principal and real actors in this portion of the 
ceremonies drew near. Adelheid felt a warm glow 
on her cheek, and a gentler flow of kindness at 
her heart, when her eye first caught a view of the 
bride and bridegroom, whom she was fain to be- 
lieve a faithful pair that a cruel fortune had hitherto 
kept separate, and who were now willing to brave 
such strictures as all must encounter who court 
public attention, in oi'der to receive the reward of 
their enduring love and self-denial. This sympathy, 
which was at first rather of an abstract and vague 
nature, finding its support chiefly in her own pe- 
culiar situation and the qualities of her gentle na- 
ture, became intensely heightened, however, when 
she got a better view of the bride. The modest 
mien, abashed eye, and difficult breathing of the 
girl, whose personal charms were of an order much 
superior to those which usually distinguish rustic 
beauty in those countries in w^hich females are not 
exempted from the labors of the field, were so 
natural and winning as to awaken all her interest ; 
and, with instinctive quickness, the lady of Wil- 
lading bent her look on the bridegroom, in order 
to see if one whose appearance was so eloquent 
in her favor was likely to be happy in her choice. 
In age, personal appearance, and apparently in con- 
dition of life, there was no very evident unfitness, 
though Adelheid fancied that the mien of the maiden 
announced a better breeding than that of her com- 
panion — a difference which she was willing to as- 
cribe, however, to a greater aptitude in her own 



256 THE HEADSMAN. 

sex to receive the first impress of the moral seal, 
than that which belongs to man, 

" She is fair," whispered Adelheid, slightly bend- 
ing her head towards Sigismund, who stood at her 
side, *' and must deserve her happiness." 

" She is good, and merits a better fate !" mut- 
tered the youth, breathing so hard as to render his 
respiration audible, 

The startled Adelheid raised her eyes, and strong 
but suppressed agitation was quivering in every 
lineament of her companion's countenance. The 
attention of those near was so closely drawn to- 
wards the procession, as to allow an instant of un- 
observed communication. 

" Sigismund, this is thy sister !" 

** God so cursed her." 

" Why has an occasion, public as this, been 
chosen to w^ed a maiden of her modesty and 



manner 



?" 



" Can the daughter of Balthazar be squeamish ? 
Gold, the interest of the abbaye, and the foolish 
eclat of this silly scene, have enabled my father to 
dispose of his child to yonder mercenary, who has 
bargained like a Jew in the affair, and who, among 
other conditions, has required that the true name 
of his bride shall never be revealed. Are we not 
honored by a connexion which repudiates us even 
before it is formed !" 

The hollow stifled laugh of the young man thrilled 
on- the nerves of his listener, and she ceased the 
stolen dialogue to return to the subject at a more 
favorable moment. In the mean time the pro- 
cession had reached the station in front of the strge, 
where the mummers had already commenced their 
rites. 

A dozen groomsmen and as many female attend- 
ants accompanied the pair who were about to take 
the nuptial vow. Behind these came the trousseau 



THE HEADSMAN. 257 

and the corbeille ; the first being that portion of the 
dowry of the bride which apphes to her personal 
wants, and the last is an offering of the husband, 
and is figuratively supposed to be a pledge of the 
strength of his passion. In the present instance 
the trousseau was so ample, and betokened so much 
liberality, as well as means, on the part of the friends 
of a maiden who would consent to become a wife 
in a ceremony so pubHc, as to create general sur- 
prise ; while, on the other hand, a solitary chain 
of gold, of rustic fashion, and far more in con- 
sonance with the occasion, was the sole tribute of 
the swain. This difference between the liberality 
of the friends of the bride, and that of the indivi- 
dual, who, judging from appearances, had much 
the most reason to show his satisfaction, did not 
fail to give rise to many comments. They ended 
as most comments do, by deductions drawn against 
the weaker and least defended of the parties. The 
general conclusion w^as so uncharitable as to infer 
that a girl thus bestowed must be under peculiar 
disadvantages, else would there have been a greater 
equality between the gifts ; an inference that was 
sufficiently true, though cruelly unjust to its modest 
but unconscious subject. 

While speculations of this nature were rife 
among the spectators, the actors in the ceremony 
began their dances, which were distinguished by 
the quaint formality that belonged to the politeness 
of the age. The songs that succeeded were in 
honor of Hymen and his votaries, and a few coup- 
lets that extolled the virtues and beauty of the 
bride were chanted in chorus. A sweep appeared 
at the chimney-top, raising his cry, in allusion to 
the business of the menage, and then all moved 
away, as had been done by those who had pre- 
ceded them. A guard of halberdiers closed the 
procession. 

W2 



258 THE HEADSMAN'. 

That part of the mummeries which was to be 
enacted in front of the estrade was now ended for 
the moment, and the different groups proceeded 
to various other stations in the town, where the 
ceremonies were to be repeated for the benefit of 
those who, by reason of the throng, had not been 
able to get a near view of what had passed in the 
square. Most of the privileged profited by the 
pause to leave their seats, and to seek such relaxa- 
tion as the confinement rendered agreeable. Among 
those who entirely quitted the square were the 
bailiff and his friends, who strolled towards the 
promenade on the lake-shore, holding discourse, 
in which there was blended much facetious merri- 
ment concerning what they had just seen. 

The bailiff soon drew his companions around 
him, in a deep discussion of the nature of the 
games, during which the Signor Grimaldi betray- 
ed a malicious pleasure in leading on the dogmatic 
Peter to expose the confusion that existed in his 
head touching the characters of sacred and pro- 
fane history. Even Adelheid was compelled to 
laugh at the commencement of this ludicrous ex- 
hibition, but her thoughts were not long in recur- 
ring to a subject in which she felt a nearer and a 
more tender interest. Sigismund walked thought- 
fully at her side, and she profited by the attention 
of all around them being drawn to the laughable 
dialogue just mentioned, to renew the subject that 
had been so lightly touched on before. 

*' I hope thy fair and modest sister will never 
have reason to repent her choice," she said, less- 
ening her speed, in a manner to widen the dis- 
tance between herself and those she did not wish 
to overhear the words, while it brought her nearer 
to Sigismund; "'tis a frightful violence to all 
maiden feeling to be thus dragged before the eyes 



THE HEADSMAN. 259 

of the curious and vulgar, in a scene trying and 
solemn as that in which she pUghts her marriage- 
vows !" 

" Poor Christine ! her fate from infancy has been 
pitiable. A purer or milder spirit than hers, one 
that more sensitively shrinks from rude collision, 
does not exist, and yet, on whichever side she turns 
her eyes, she meets with appalling prejudices or 
opinions to drive a gentle nature like hers to mad- 
ness. It may be a misfortune, Adelheid, to want 
instruction, and to be fated to pass a life in the 
depths of ignorance, and in the indulgence of bru- 
tal passions, but it is scarcely a blessing to have 
the mind elevated above the tasks which a cruel 
and selfish world so frequently imposes." 

*' Thou wast speaking of thy mild and excellent 
sister ? — " 

''Well hast thou described her! Christine is 
mild, and more than modest — she is meek. But 
what can meekness itself do to palliate such a ca- 
lamity? Desirous of averting the stigma of his 
family from all he could with pfudencc, my father 
caused my sister, like myself, to be early taken 
from the parental home. She was given in charge 
to strangers, under such circumstances of secrecy, 
as left her long, perhaps too long, in ignorance of 
the stock from whicli she sprang. When maternal 
pride led my mother to seek her daughter's society, 
the mind of Christine was in some measure formed, 
and she had to endure the humiliation of learning 
that she was one of a family proscribed. Her gentle 
spirit, however, soon became reconciled to the 
truth, at least so far as human observation could 
penetrate, and, from the moment of the first terri- 
ble agony, no one has heard her murmur at the 
stern decree of Providence. The resignation of 
that mild girl has ev^er been a reproach to my 
own rebellious temper, for, Adelheid, I cannot con 



260 THE HEADSMAN'. 

ceal the truth from thee — I have cursed all that I 
dared include in my wicked imprecations, in very 
madness at this blight on my hopes ! Nay, I have 
even accused my father of injustice, that he did 
not train me at the side of the block, that I might 
take a savage pride in that which is now the bane 
of my existence. Not so with Christine ; she has 
always warmly returned the affection of our pa- 
rents, as a daughter should love the authors of her 
being, while I fear I have been repining when I 
should have loved. Our origin is a curse entailed 
by the ruthless laws of the land, and it is not to 
be attributed to any, at least to none of these later 
days, as a fault; and such has ever been the lan- 
guage of my poor sister when she has seen a 
merit in their wishes to benefit us at the expense 
of their own natural affection. I would I could 
imitate her reason and resignation !" 

" The view taken by thy sister is that of a fe- 
male, Sigismund, whose heart is stronger than her 
pride ; and, what is more, it is just." 

"I deny it not; 'tis just. But the ill-judged 
mercy has for ever disqualified me to sympathize 
as I could wish with those to whom I belong. 
'Tis an error to draw these broad distinctions be- 
tween our habits and our affections. Creatures 
stern as soldiers cannot bend their fancies like 
pliant twigs, or with the facility of female — " 

" Duty," said Adelheid gravely, observing that 
he hesitated. 

*' If thou wilt, duty. The word has great weight 
with thy sex, and I do not question that it should 
have with mine." 

*' Thou canst not be wanting in afl^ection for thy 
father, Sigismund. The manner in which thou 
interposedst to save his life, when we were in that 
fearful jeopardy of the tempest, disproves thy 
words." 



tHE HEADSMAN. 261 

" Heaven forbid that I should be wanting in nat- 
ural feeling of this sort, and yet, Adelheid, it is 
horrible not to be able to respect, to love profound- 
ly, those to whom we owe our existence ! Chris- 
tine in this is far happier than I, an advantage that 
I doubt not she owes to her simple life, and to the 
closer intimacies which unite females. I am the 
son of a headsman ; that bitter fact is never absent 
from my thoughts when they turn to home and 
those scenes in which I could so gladly take plea- 
sure. Balthazar may have meant a kindness when 
he caused me to be trained in habits so different 
from his own, but, to complete the good work, the 
veil should never have been removed." . 

Adelheid was silent. Though she understood 
the feelings whicli controlled one educated so very 
differently from those to whom he owed his birth, 
her habits of thought were opposed to the indul- 
gence of any reflections that could unsettle the 
reverence of the child for its parent. 

" One of a heart like thine, Sigismund, cannot 
hate his mother!" she said, after a pause. 

"In this thou dost me no more than justice; my 
words have ill represented my thoughts, if they 
have left such an impression. In cooler moments, 
I have never considered my birth as more than a 
misfortune, and my education I deem a reason for 
additional respect and gratitude to my parents, 
though it may have disquahfied me in some mea- 
sure ^to enter deeply into their feelings. Christine 
herself is not more true, nor of more devoted love, 
than my poor mother. It is necessary, Adelheid, 
to see and know that excellent woman in order to 
understand all the wrongs that the world inflicts 
by its ruthless usages." 

" We will now speak only of thy sister. Has 
she been here bestowed without regard to her own 
wishes, Sigismund?" 



262 THE HEADSMAN. 

" I hope not. Christine is meek, but, while nei- 
ther word nor look betrays the weakness, still she 
feels the load that crushes us both. She has long 
accustomed herself to look at all her ov/n merits 
through the medium of this debasement, and has 
set too low a value on her own excellent qualities. 
Much, very much depends, in this Hfe, on our own 
habits of self-estimation, Adelheid; for he who is 
prepared to admit unworthiness — I speak not of 
demerit towards God but towards men — will soon 
become accustomed to familiarity with a standard 
below his just pretensions, and will end perhaps in 
being the thing he dreaded. Such has been the 
consequence of Christine's knowledge of her birth, 
for, to her meek spirit, there is an appearance of 
generosity in overlooking this grand defect, and it 
has too well prepared her mind to endow the youth 
with a hundred more of the qualities that are ab- 
solutely necessary to her esteem, but which I fear 
exist only in her own warm fancy." 

" This is touching on the most difficult branch 
of human knowledge," returned Adelheid, smiling 
sweetly on the agitated brother; "a just apprecia- 
tion of ourselves. If there is danger of setting 
too low a value on our merits, there is also some 
danger of setting too high ; though I perfectly 
comprehend the difference you would make be- 
tween vulgar vanity, and that self-respect which 
is certainly in some degree necessary to success. 
But one, like her thou hast described, would scarce 
yield her affections without good reason to think 
them well bestowed." 

*' Adelheid, thou, who hast never felt the world's 
contempt, cannot understand how winning respect 
and esteem can be made to those who pine beneath 
its weight ! My sister hath so long accustomed 
herself to think meanly of her hopes, that the ap- 
pearance of liberality and justice in this youth 



THE HEADSMAN. 263 

would have been sufficient of itself to soften her 
feelings in his favor. I cannot say I think — for 
Christine w'lW soon be his wife — but I will say, I 
fear that the simple fact of his choosing one that 
the world persecutes has given him a value in her 
eyes he might not otherwise have possessed." 

" Thou dost not appear to approve of thy sis- 
ter's choice?" 

" I know the details of the disgusting bargain 
better than poor Christine," answered the young 
man, speaking between his teeth, hke one who re- 
pressed bitter emotion. '' I was privy to the greedy 
exactions on the one side, and to the humihating 
concessions on the other. Even money could not 
buy this boon for Balthazar's child, without a con- 
dition that the ineffaceable stigma of her birth 
should be for ever concealed." 

Adelheid saw, by the cold perspiration that stood 
on the brow of Sigismund, how intensely he suf- 
fered, and she sought an immediate occasion to 
lead his thoughts to a less disturbing subject. 
With the readiness of her sex, and with the sensi- 
tiveness and dehcacy of a woman that sincerely 
loved, she found means to effect the charitable pur- 
pose, without again alarming his pride. She suc- 
ceeded so far in calming his feelings, that, when 
they rejoined their companions, the manner of the 
young man had entirely regained the quiet and 
proud composure in which he appeared to take 
refuge against the consciousness of the blot that 
darkened his hopes, frequently rendering hfe itself 
a burthen nearly too heavy to be borne. 

END OF VOL. I. 



SEP -1 59« 



